Is Realism A Realistic Approach For Understanding Contemporary Global Politics

Is Realism a realistic approach for understanding contemporary global politics?

Introduction

Realism is a political theory amongst many others, and is a paradigm that goes far back as one of the oldest in International Relations (IR) as well as International Political Economy (IPE). It is a hub of ideas based on different principles about what determines state behavior towards the other. In the discipline of IR there are general theories/theoretical perspectives. Realism is also known as political realism where the international politics stresses and emphasizes its competitive and inner-conflicted sides. The founding fathers of classical realism are Thucydides, Machiavelli and Hobbes. However, today the classical realism is renamed to neo-realism.

He questioned if rivalry states, where power is the most essential, also can be led by norms of justice. In his book History of the Peloponnesian War, (Finley, 1972), he wrote about how people from opposing sides faced each other concerning an issue.

The basic starting point with classical political realism is human nature whereas realists look at human beings as egoistic and self-interested to the point where it overshadows the moral principles.

Neorealist, the realism of today, acknowledge the state of not being present (anarchy) as the basics cause of political outcome. The deficiency of laws and authority channels arguments and disputes where the international arena turns to a self-help system. When this situation happens, each state is accountable for its own survival as well as determines its interests and chase power. As Thucydides mentioned it “the independent states survive only when they are powerful”. (Thucydides, 1972). Since realists look at the states as anarchic, they believe security is a main issue. To attain that security, they balance the power in order to stop the enemies. When talking about realists, they believe that when it comes to international relations there is no room for morality in that aspect. Instead there is a pressure between demands of morality and requirements of profitable political

(Malcolm, 2002, p.442). Hobbes argues that without an authority in the international system, the outcome from cooperation between states and individuals can bring peace and security. In political realism, there is no such thing whereas states can form successful alliances because states cannot be trusted hence to the states view of ‘self-interest’ and therefore not care of any other state in the system but itself. Thucydides views on this is similar while Hobbes believes that all states are equal and therefore it is possible to “create more stable forms of coexistence among themselves” (Williams, 1996), and achieve peace and