what are the implications of realism's appar- ent

Copyright© 'the Centre for Geopolitics & Security in Realism Studies’(CGSRS)

05 Jan 2019

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What are the implications of realism's appar-ent dominance of the study of International

Relations?

Moji Kheyrian

M&F, Global Programme

[email protected]

Centre for Geopolitics & Security in Realism Studies 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU, United Kingdom

www.cgsrs.org ½ [email protected]


Introduction

Realism is not an approach that can be defined explicitly by a set of propositions and

assumptions. Rather it is a theory with a general orientation and a philosophical dispo-

sition. According to Gilpin (1986 p. 304), realism can be defined as a ‘set of normative

emphases that shape theory’. Ferguson and Mansbuch (1987, p. 79) on the other hand

define realism as ‘an attitude of mind’ that is comprised of ‘distinctive and recogniza-

ble flavour.’ In addition to this, Garnet (1984, p.110), perceives realism as one with ‘a

loose groundwork’ and a vast tent with room for various theories (Resonthal 1991, p.7;

Elman 1996, p. 26). In an overview, realism is a model to international relations that

has simultaneously emerged through a number of research studies from analysts who

have positioned themselves within, and thus delimited, a concise but still diverse analy-

sis tradition (Donely, 2000).

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Representative Definitions of Realism in International Relations

There a number of definitions used to

represent realism in international rela-

tions. First representation is described

by state’s interest that provides the

spring of actions. Secondly, develop-

ment of realism in international rela-

tions was encouraged by the policies

that arose from unregulated competi-

tion of states. Waltz also holds that cal-

culation grounded on the necessities

can uncover policies that best protects

and serves the interests of a state. The

success of this representation of realism

is demonstrated through putting the

policies to test. If it preserves and

strengthens the state then, it can be

considered as a success (Donely, 2000).

According to Morgenthau, representa-

tion of realism in international relations

is described by six distinctive aspects.

First, realism is presented by politics

that is governed by objective laws which

have their roots founded on human na-

ture. Again, main incentive that enables

political realism to find towards interna-

tional landscape is the concept of inter-

est described in terms of power. Thirdly,

this approach perceives interests and

power in international community as a

variable content. It also holds that the

universal moral principles cannot be

imposed to the actions of countries.

Likewise, the political realism described

in this approach does not identify the

moral aspirations of an individualized

country with morals that govern the

international community. Realism in

this approach is also demonstrated by

the autonomous of the political sphere

(Donely, 2000).

Neo Realism Neo realism is an ap-

proach in international relations also

known as structural realism. Unlike the

classical realism whose concepts is

grounded on the ‘nature of human be-

ings’ to account for politics in the inter-

national community, neo realism capi-

talizes on a more systematic approach.

In general, the model holds that the

structure of international relations acts

a bridle on the behaviour of a nation’s

behaviour. Thus, countries whose out-

comes lie within an expected range in

the international relations survive. Ac-

cording to this approach, international

relations are described by an imposing

principle known as anarchy. Similarly,

it is described by its distribution capaci-

ties leveraged by the number of great

powers in the international community

(May et al, 2010; Waltz, 2009).

The characteristic of anarchy is that it is

decentralized and has no official central

governing authority. In this case, it is

comprised of equal sovereign nations


that act according to logic of helping

and protecting its interests. In perqui-

site to pursuing other goals, it is as-

sumed the main objective of the nations

is to ensure their own survival in the

international realm. It is also assumed

that its driving force to enhance survival

is to maintain and attain power over

other states. Thus, one of the main fac-

tors that influence their behaviour is

ensure that they develop offensive mili-

tary abilities for the purposes of foreign

interventionism. The lack of trust exist-

ing amongst countries (security dilem-

ma) requires individual state to always

be on guard against relative losses of

power to other countries (Jackson, &

Sorensen, 1999; Waltz, 2009). Although

the needs of countries are perceived to

be same, means of how they intend to

satisfy those needs differ from one

country to another. Since resources are

unevenly distributed across the nations,

cooperation among states has been

limited due to the fear of relative of

gains. The abilities of individual coun-

tries to maximize relative power in or-

der to attain desired results have lim-

ited each other and this has led to bal-

ance of power in the international rela-

tions. There are two main methods that

balance of power can be attained in the

international community. The first is

through internal balancing where na-

tions grow their own capabilities and

resources through capitalizing on eco-

nomic growth. Secondly, balance of

power can be attained through external

balancing where nations form alliances

to leverage the power of more powerful

alliances/ countries (Waltz, 2009).

Changes in Realism and Neo Realism

Changes in international relations as

associated to realism an neo realism

dates back to decades between the first

and the Second World War Here, schol-

ars as well as political analysts were

contemplating the causes of the Great

War. Politicians on the other hand were

aspiring to create institutions such as

the League of Nations that prevent a

reoccurrence of international aggression

by institutionalizing a normative and

collective order. The main pitfall of the-

League was that it represented the lib-

eral ideals of democratic peace. It also

emphasized on the possibility of devel-

oping a modus Vivendi beyond state

boundaries. In order to stop the out-

break of other calamities international

war further emphasized the rise of

doubts on the effectiveness and the

assumptions that upon which it had

been based upon (Crawford, 2000; )

For many practitioners within the aca-

demic discipline and in the internation-


al relations perceive the most influential

model during the first quarter century

of World War 2 as realism. According to

them, this realism arose as a reaction to

the perceived downfall of the policy ap-

peasement (and idealism) that occurred

between the 1920’s and the 1930’s.

According to realists, the international

society was anarchical was ruled by

individual nations that were all striving

to maximize their own security and

power. Since most nations were predis-

posed towards competition and conflict,

cooperation in international relations

was usually futile and elusive, even

when countries across the world per-

ceived the overall benefits of such ar-

rangements (Carr, 1981).

To some extent, some theorist hold that

realism problematisizes a country

through endowing it a variable extent of

domestic agential power. According to

the theorist, realism further imposes

that international systems is formed by

the international agential powers of a

nation at a unit level. This is a drawback

since neo it brings back a nation (the

second tier) back an independent agen-

tial variable in international relations.

When it is compared to neo realism, it

assigns the country more at the centre

of analysis. In this case, IP in most parts

is contrived changes in a country’s do-

mestic agential powers. This is regard-

less of the anarchy condition existing in

international relations or changes in the

distribution of power. Carr and Morgen-

thau in addition to this emphasize on

the significance of norms. To some ex-

tent, both the author also link norms to

the domestic agential power of coun-

tries. Moreover, they describe the au-

tonomy of norms that promotes both

an ‘emancipation realism’ and ‘practical

realism’ (Morgenthau & Thompson,

2001; Hobson, 2000).

Major changes in international relations

have been leveraged by perestroika, the

reunification of Germany, the dissolu-

tion of Soviet Bloc and the end of the

Cold War. These occasion have played a

vital role in explaining the changes of

realism approach and neorealism in the

international community. Accustomed

to account for changes in terms shifting

patterns of distribution of capabilities or

growth, neo realists have denied the

fact that major changes of 1989/90

were as a result of redistribution. This is

because according to them, the military

of soviet remained virtually same

throughout the year after the collapsing

of the Berlin Wall. Moreover, these al-

terations had occurred rather in unex-

pected way. This implies it occurred

without the outbreak of hegemonic war

(Morgenthau & Thompson, 2001; Carr,

1981.) Additionally, given that change


in international relations emerged from

reconstitution of local political networks,

rather than systematic factors, it be-

lieved that significance of democratiza-

tion and human rights have led to the

formation of a new ‘civil society’. In this

case, neo realism is seen to hold no

hypothesized network for understand-

ing the scope, nature and direction of

change. Thus, the adage of Thucydide-

an can still be seen as viable as it states

that ‘the strong do what they can do

while the weak suffer what they must’.

However, at the long run, changes in the

international relations can be attributed

to the realization by strong that what

they can do was relatively different from

the repertoire of politics. Similarly, the

weak noticed that the trend of ‘must’

was as well subjected to a continuous

almost unheard of form of alterations.

Simultaneously, a curious reversal oc-

curred where movements of mass pop-

ulation brought skidding changes via a

new understanding of empowerment. At

this time, the apprehension of lack of

power of leading strata pointed to prob-

lem in ‘power’ (Kratochwil, 1993; Wil-

liams,2005)

Advantages of Realism and Neo Realism

One advantage of realism is that it sup-

plies a lot of discourse in international

relations. In this case it contributes to a

powerful explanation on the endemic

nature of war comprised within interna-

tional communities. Secondly, the ap-

proach realism has played a significant

role of providing neo realism a basis for

developing its approach. Here, neoreal-

ism is founded on the third dimension

of realism (international system) where

it demonstrates a systematic image.

The other two dimension of realism are

man (human nature) and the state

(Buzan, et al, 1993). Thirdly, the other

advantage of realism is that it recogniz-

es every country as a sovereign entity. It

further demonstrates how every nation

has a right to rule itself as a rational

player in the realm of international rela-

tions. The main rationale in this model

is that as a rationale player, every state

makes decisions that seek to protect its

own citizens, property and interest

(Grieco, 1990).

Again, an advantage of realism theory is

stipulated in its justification of anything

by rationale of state. Thus the model

bestows relative consideration of the

possibility of moral judgment in exist-

ence among states in the international

politics. This is because the theories of

the approach provides a significant val-


ue to successful political action that is

grounded on prudence i.e. the capacity

to decide the correctness (rightness) of

an individualized action from among

other viable alternatives. Similarly, the

other advantage of realism is that it en-

compasses a number of models. This

has played a significant role in helping

people (readers, researchers, etc) to

understand their origins in relations to

existing conditions of international rela-

tions. Likewise, encompassing a variety

of models has enabled other theories

and research work to be developed fur-

ther (Julian, 2010).

Neo realism has also played a signifi-

cant role of demonstrating the repro-

ductive nature of international relations.

Here, theorists such as Waltz claim that

the model unlike wars that demonstrate

the operations of associations within

international relations systems. This

theory captures the eternal aspects of

international politics via contemplating

throughout all the centuries that we can

contrive. Other advantages of neo real-

ism include; the theory helps one to

better understand the success and fail-

ures of balance of power. The approach

also use deductive methodologies that

are more scientific i.e. can be identified,

measured and analyzed. The approach

can also generalize across time and

space. Moreover, the model clarifies

what anarchy in international relation is

and the role it plays in changing the

international arena. It also clarifies as-

pects such as relative gains and balanc-

ing of power as an instrument (Halliday,

1994).

How Realism has Affected other Approaches

In the feminism approach, realism has

affected a number of aspects. In the

social realm, realism has defined cer-

tain ways in which people should inter-

act with each other. For instance, in

learning institutions, parents, teachers

and students have a code of conduct

that they are expected to follow. While

the critics of feminist theory have de-

veloped a burgeoning literature on gen-

der the mainstreams of IR model has

remained silent on gender. Realism has

developed a starting point for the belief

that gender hierarchies are constructed

socially and are ethically indefensible

(Lawson, T., 1999; Carpenter, 2011).

Since realism is a model that believes in

protecting the interests of a country, it

has influenced the feminism model via

identifying the roles of women in the

politics of international relations. Specif-

ic emphasis has been placed on roles


such as diplomatic wives, plantation

industry workers, military services, etc.

The feminism approach utilized theo-

ries stipulated in realism to understand

international politics. The ap-

proach further uses the realism to ana-

lyze how these politics affect or/ and

how it is affected by both men and

women in each nation. Through analyz-

ing how key concepts are enacted with-

in the discipline of international rela-

tions, the approach has developed

methodologies and hypothesis concern-

ing traditional focus on international

relations as associated with diplomacy,

states, security, wars, etc (Tickner,

2001).

Although social constructivism is a term

that is relatively recent as opposed to

epistemology, its component has been

used over the years to unambiguously

explain concepts of reality. It is ob-

served that realism in a way has acted

as an autonomous agent that makes

decisions on behalf of the users. Natu-

rally, this has triggered UCD issues such

as transparency, trust, empowerment

and privacy as well as control. Similarly,

by definition constructivism also pro-

vides a resource for human actions. It

also holds account for the action of

people in social situations (Oulasrvita et

al, 2006; Campbell, 1995).

Moreover, the key incentive of develop-

ing the social constructivism approach

is so as to prove that most aspects of

international relations are socially con-

structed. Realism influenced this ap-

proach in its entirety as it provided

groundwork for its development. Theo-

rists of social constructivism in this case

used realism to demonstrate how con-

cepts such as ‘politics of power’ are

socially constructed. While realism be-

lieves that act protect individual inter-

ests is human nature, theorists in the

social constructivism model hold that

those practices are formulated by social

networks existing among people. The

theorists’ further state that these social

structures can be altered by the chang-

es of people’s practices (Wendt, 1999;

Finnemore, 1996).

Realism has also influenced the English

School approach that holds that there is

a ‘society of nations’ in the communi-

ties at the international arena. This ap-

proach mainly capitalizes on concept

that ideas shape how international poli-

tics is conducted. This is as opposed to

resources capabilities. The approach of

realism also provides groundwork for

the English School where its approach

is founded upon. In this case, the Eng-

lish School holds that international rela-

tion system is formed once a number of

countries develop a sufficient amount of


interaction (alliances) (Linklater,&

Suganami, 2006; Buzan, 2004).

The English School approach recogniz-

es the mutual sovereignty of nations as

stipulated by realism to develop its

foundational claim it is this state that

make a society. The approach also rec-

ognizes that these ‘societies’ developed

by ‘balance of power’, war, international

law and/or diplomacy are anarchy in

nature i.e. they do not succumb to the

will any form of higher power. Since

nations have been able to develop a

society with sovereign equals for the

English school, this concept is such a

fascinating dimension of international

relations. English school also recognizes

the phenomenal of violence explained

within the theories of realism as an en-

demic aspect of the ‘anarchical society.’

According to the approach, this state is

controlled to a stated extent by the mo-

rality and international law in a bid to

regulate the atmosphere of internation-

al relations (Linklater, 2002). In the neo-

liberalism institutionalism, realism has

played a significant role in providing

groundwork upon which it can base its

theory. Here, realism looked at the ac-

tions and interaction between nations in

the system of international relations as

it attempted to explain international

politics. Neo liberalists have used the

diverse aspects of realism to develop its

theories. For instance, the approach

places greater emphasis on economic

and environmental issues. The interde-

pendence of the neo liberalism to real-

ism is demonstrated as economic inter-

dependence has over the years become

an important feature in the international

politics. In addition to this, countries are

major actors in international relations

described by both models. Trends such

as globalization describe the increase in

the interconnectedness and linkages

amongst nations (Whyte, 2012; Kegley,

C., 2009).

Moji�Kheyrian 9


Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important for one to construe realism as a model that covers a

number of different theories that hold different a diversified prediction on international

relations. This is especially demonstrated by the description of its definition has held

by different theorists. In an overall view, realism describes international relations as a

struggle for power among nations who seek to protect their own interests. Likewise, the

model is pessimistic about the attempts of removing wars and conflicts as related to

disposition of power factors among countries in the international community.

As demonstrated in this report, realism has played a significant role in the international

relations among countries. While the approach has leveraged development of other

theories, it also has undergone changes mainly witnessed between the first and the

Second World War. One such theory that has been influenced by realism is the formu-

lation of neo realism that perceives the nature of international relations as systematic.

Here, although countries strive to protect their own interests, they have a systematic

way of pursuing their goals. For instance, they can form alliances in order to balance

power in the international arena.

In order for one to fully construe aspects of balance of power and distribution of capa-

bilities in the international relations, it important to construe the theories stipulated by

realism and how this model has been developed over the years. Realism has also influ-

enced other models such as feminist approach, English School, social constructivism

among other models. This has further helped individual countries among other actors

to construe the nature of international relations as they seek to pursue their personal

interests.

Some of the advantages that are comprised in the realism model include flexibility of

the model. Flexibility in this case is demonstrated by the fact the models are comprised

of many theories that has enabled theorists to further develop other research study via

using realism as its basis. Realism also captures varies dimensions existing in interna-

tional politics. It also gives an account of how these politics have been influenced and

changed over time. This has played a significant role in helping different people as well

as groups to construe individual’s politics in relation to international politics.

Moji�Kheyrian 10


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