WITH REFERENCE TO RECENT CONFLICTS, IS IT APPROPRIATE TO FOCUS ON THE STATE, FOREIGN POLICY, POWER, SECURITY, CONFLICT AND WAR (THAT IS, THE REALIST AGENDA)?

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Contemporary Issues in International Studies: 1POL412

With reference to recent conflicts, is it appropriate to focus on the state, foreign policy, power, security, conflict and war (that is, the Realist agenda)?

It is immensely appropriate that we now focus on the Realist agenda for two main reasons.  The first is that the main hegemony and the most powerful – economically and militarily - state in the world, the United States of America (US) is recognised by analysts and academics as following the realist agenda.  And secondly, recent conflicts have demonstrated the power of states and that their obsession with security has formed a foreign policy that has resulted in growing amounts of conflict and war.  After giving definitions, the main principles of realism shall be applied to recent conflicts and issues in the international system.

Kegley and Wittkopf define a ‘state’ as an “independent, territorially defined community in the global system administered by a sovereign government”.  Power is defined as “the factors that enable one state to coerce another; to realists, arms and military capabilities are the most important factor in determining which state will win a dispute”.  Conflict is “…discord, often arising in international relations over perceived incompatibilities of interest” and Foreign policy is the “decisions governing authorities make to realize international goals”. 

Theory is a set of hypotheses postulating the relationship between variables or conditions, advanced to describe, explain, or predict phenomena and make prescriptions about how positive changes ought to be engineered to realize particular ethical principles.  The realist agenda comprises of a paradigm based on the premise that world politics is essentially and unchangeably a struggle among self-interested states for power and position under anarchy, with each competing state pursuing its own national interests.  Realists agree with the realpolitik view that the theoretical outlook prescribing that countries should prepare for war in order to preserve peace and they are concerned with high politics issues that are related to the military, security, anarchy and political relations of states.  Anarchy is a condition in which the units in the global system are subjected to few if any overarching institutions to regulate their conduct. 

Realism provides the most powerful explanation for the state of war which is a regular condition of life in the international system.  The aspects that I deal with in this essay are realist ideas that enforce and explain the growing amount of war and conflict.  In contemporary IR the main issues that have dominated the scene recently have been the “war on terror”, the war in Iraq and Afghanistanm explains the extent of power that the US has and how it is not only determined to maintain it but also to demonstrate it.  

Most efforts to understand international relations are either realist or are self-conscious challengers to realism. The term "Realism" is used with such frequency that it appears to defy the need for definition - all that needs to be known about the concept is encapsulated in the word.  Of the threads that make up the Realist school, the most important ideas include that the state is the most important actor and the first corollary is that the international system is one of anarchy, with no common sovereign.  States act to maximise either their security or power. When states want to guarantee security is frequently equated to maximising power.  The most important factor in determining what happens in international relations is the distribution of power. States often rely on force or the threat of force to achieve their ends. Conviction that international relations are necessarily conflictual and that international conflict are ultimately resolved by war and a high regard for the values of national security and state survival.

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The work of Morgenthau,  a realist,  is very important when referring to power and the role of states in the international system.  The below quote from him shows how Us is demonstrating and acquiring more power through its actions.

 ‘Politics is a struggle for power over men, and whatever its ultimate aim may be, power is its immediate goal and the modes of acquiring, maintaining, demonstrating it determine the technique of political action’ (Morgenthau 1965:195).

The main ideology is that war is a part of life and that the world is not populated by people who are ...

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