To assess Carr’s credentials as a realist we must establish the foundations of his realist beliefs. The view J. D. B. Miller had of Carr and the one that is portrayed in textbooks is of a traditional realist. However in his writings Carr draws from a variety of thinkers who would not usually be associated with a realist. Naturally Machiavelli is an influential figure, whom Carr regarded as 'the first important political realist', setting the ‘foundation-stones of the realist philosophy.' Carr’s realism is most evident in his attempts to maintain and rebuild Britain as a superpower. He believed that a United States – Soviet dominated world would relegate Britain as a world power, and therefore his more liberal ideas of international cooperation are for a realist power political end.
Just as Machievelli was an influence, so too were Marx and Mannheim. Mannheim's sociology of knowledge is shown in his condemnation of the utopian principles of free trade and international law and order as ‘the unconscious reflections of national policy based on a particular interpretation of national interest at a particular time', principles he no longer thought existed in the new order of the twentieth century. Marxist ideology is frequently evident in his work. Carr believed that the monopoly capitalism dominated by the city of London was over. For Carr the 'great social revolution' and the death of the old liberal order created the present ills of the twentieth century, like the Bolshevik revolution, the Nazi revolution, totalitarianism and the two World Wars. The revolution was based on the reorganisation of social and economic management so that the small, 'supervisory', 'non-interventionist' state was giving way to the 'creative', 'remedial', 'social service' or 'welfare' state. The materialist influence of Marx is evident in Carr’s criticisms of and solutions to the economic and social order he perceived to be at fault. That Carr has a Marxist element does not however affect his realist outlook; after all, the leaders of the Soviet Union combined broad Marxist beliefs with a distinctive realpolitik for decades. It is when looking at Carr’s prescriptions for the new era, that his realism is questionable.
In the twenty years crises Carr defined political science as ‘the science not only of what is, but of what ought to be’. It is when looking at this ‘what ought to be’ that we see liberal, even utopian elements in Carrs own thinking. Carr believed it was possible to consciously create a new harmony of interests, to replace the natural harmony of interests of the now redundant nineteenth century system by 'creating a new harmony by artificial means'. Carr focuses on the need for an inclusive domestic political community so that ‘white men, landowners, propertied classes and so forth’ cannot monopolize principal opportunities and resources. He applied the same principle to international relations, citing an international order that revolved around a selection of great powers as unable to command popular support. He believed cooperation was necessary to solve the social and economic problems of unemployment, and a lack of material resources and opportunities that could not be dealt with at the national level alone. Consequently the boundaries of political communities would have to expand to become more inclusive so that British policy would have to grant the people of Dusseldorf, Lille and Lodz many of the same rights as the people of Jarrow or Oldham. This of course jeopardizes that cornerstone of the realist philosophy, the nation state, and its position as one of the predominant actors in international relations.
In correspondence to this, Carr promoted international planning that would ensure ‘the equality of individual men and women as opposed to the equality of nations’. He believed these organizations should ‘admit something of the same multiplicity of authorities and diversity of loyalties’ as the more successful domestic societies. This would combat the problems of nationalism, sovereignty and the absolute power of the nation state. For a realist to promote the worth and need for international organizations and their capacity to create actual change is contradictory of ‘normal’ realist beliefs. Carr goes further in the Future of Nations, when he says that states do not have the right to take decisions without regard for the interests of outsiders. He suggests a moral limitation on the policy and actions of the state, and argues that its own self-interest should not be its primary concern – both ideas that simply do not constitute realist beliefs.
Carr intended this new international cooperation to come about through functionalist integration. Here the idealist Mitrany proved an influential figure. To combat the economic ills of the world and to provide for a lasting political settlement, Carr believed in 'practical international cooperation' in multiple sectors of the economy. He argued that after the war Europe and the wider world should be structured 'not theoretically according to some a priori conception of league, alliance or federation, but empirically as the outcome and expression of a practical working arrangement'. Such an arrangement would act as a 'psychological substitute for war'. This functional economic integration was to take the form of such institutions as a European Transport Corporation a Central Bank and a Reconstruction and Public Works Corporation. Realists are classically opposed to functionalism because of its nature to erode the boundaries of the nation state. Realists’ conventionally side with intergovernmentalism with its focus on the impossibility of actual integration because of unwillingness of states to cede sovereignty – precisely what Carr is arguing should be done.
To conclude, Carr is more than just a realist. He does begin his thinking with certain realist principles regarding the intentions of states, and the importance of power. However there are several other distinct aspects to his work. He argues the nation-state can no longer be regarded as the most effective means of promoting welfare and security. Indeed he questions the very nature of the state, its boundaries, sovereignty and morality in international relations to a degree that is incompatible with realism. Also contradictory to standard realist thought, he believes organisations can work, and bring about real change to the international order. What's more he fails to give any attention to the concept of human nature or to the idea of international anarchy, both key concepts to most realists. Even if we stretch the boundaries of realism, Carr’s thought cannot be constrained to that one faction alone. Therefore Carr is a realist in his objective to preserve Britain as a great power, but utopian in that he appeals to a general interest in international co-operation and peace to achieve that. However in his belief in social justice and the interventionist state, we also see a Marxist Carr. Therefore a reputation as a realist is insufficient, as Carr belongs to all of these theories, though to none alone.
Bibliography
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C. Jones, E.H. Carr and International Relations p10
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C. Jones, E.H. Carr and International Relations p165
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Wilson, P. (2000) E. H. Carr: the revolutionist's realist. P7