REALISM

Introduction

Political realism is one of the theories of international relations attempting to explain the

relation among states. It seeks to explain international relation in terms of power. It prioritize

national interest and security rather than ideals, social reconstruction and ethics. The term is

often synonymous to power politics. There are several assumptions of political realism which

are discussed as under:

CORE ASSUMPTIONS

Realism is centered on four assumptions:

 The most important actors in the world are states and conflict is the natural state of

relation among states.

 States act as individual might, meaning that each state acts in rational unitary way for

purpose of sorting their national interest. This interest is defined in terms of power that

in turn is the capability of influencing others by means of tangible and intangible

characteristics of states.

 The international system is one of anarchy. There is no supranational authority that can

enforce rules over the states. It is a doggy dog world where might makes right.

 The overriding goal of states under anarchy is survival by any means (military,

economy) and the ends justified the means.

In summary, realists views the state as the most important actor on the world stage because it

answers to no higher political authority. States are sovereign: they have supreme power over
their territory and populace, and no other actor stands above them wielding the legitimacy and

coercive capability to govern the global system. Given the absence of a higher authority to

which states can turn for protection and to resolve disputes, realists depict world politics as a

repetitive struggle for power where the strong dominate the weak and there is inherently a

constant possibility of war. Under this condition of anarchy, realist argue that states in

International system can rely on themselves. In other words, international anarchy leads even

well-intentioned leaders to practice self-help, increase their own military strength, and

opportunistically align with others to deter potential threats. Realist theory does

not preclude the possibility that rival powers will cooperate on arms control

or on other security issues of common interest. Rather, it asserts that cooperation will be rare

because states worry about the unequal distribution of relative gains that can result from

cooperation to the disadvantage of one of the parties and the possibility that the other side will

cheat on agreements. Leaders should never entrust the task of self-protection to international

security organizations or international law, and should resist efforts to regulate

international behaviour through global governance.

EMERGENCE OF REALISM

Realism is the product of long historical and philosophical tradition, even though its direct

application to international affairs is more recent. Due to the crises of the 1930s, ‘Idealism’

gave a way to ‘Realism’ and the foundation of the theory was first laid by the writers such as

E.H. Car later appeared in the works of other writers such as Thucydides, Kautilya, Sun Tzu,

Thomas Hobbes, Niccolo Machiavelli, Hans Morgenthau and Henry Kissinger.

It became dominant after Second World War and it had powerful explanation of international

relations and conflict. In the 1980s, classical realism gave way to another trend in international

relations theory— neorealism

Therefore, Realism is a broad paradigm, which composes of two variants, the Classical realism

and the structural also known as the Neo-Realism. The two have the same fundamental values

as they are cut from the same cloth and they focus on things as they are, not as they ought to

be.

CLASSICAL REALISM

Classical realism is one of the ‘traditional’ approaches to IR. It is

basically a normative approach, seeks to explain international politics as a result of human

nature and focuses on the core political values of national security and state survival. Classical

realist thought has been evident in many different historical periods, from ancient Greece right

down to the present time. The thinkers associated with classical realism are Machiavelli,

Hobbes, Morgenthau, Karl Von Clausewitz and Reinhold Niebuhr.

Core Principles

Classical Realism is one of the most influential schools of thought regarding the study of

international relations. Principles of Classical Realism include:

(1) State actions and decisions are rooted in human nature;

(2) How the anarchical nature or ‘State of Nature’ of international politics with no central

authority influences the decisions and actions of states;

(3) The struggle for power or ‘concept of power’ in an anarchical self-help system;

(4) Relevance of morality in international politics.

1. Human Nature

The underlying basis of Classical Realism is that society is governed by objective laws that

have their roots in human nature. People don’t do things to be nice; they do things because that

serves some sort of their self-interest.

Classical realism argues that power lies in human nature, as the laws that govern politics are

made by men. It also emphasizes that International Politics is a struggle for power which

emanates from human nature. The theory states that people are greedy, selfish, insecure and

aggressive. They competes for scarce resources that makes them to attack one another for gain.

The lust to possess power and selfishness of individuals are considered to be the causes or bases

of conflicts that emanates amongst the individuals. Moreover, Thomas Hobbes elaborates in

Leviathan that “in the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel. First,

competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory”. This natural drive for power that all humans

have, exists in states as well. In international arena statesman will try to further the national

interest of the state in international politics just like furthering one’s own self-interest.

Therefore, the behaviour of states and statesman can be predictable as their actions are rooted

in Human Nature.

2. Anarchy

Another core principle of Classical Realism is that the international system is anarchic where

there is no central government to guide the behaviour of states in the world system. Each of the

independent sovereign states consider themselves to be their own highest authority and do not

recognize a higher power above them. In such system of anarchy, conflict is inevitable as states

are eager to maximize their interest and strengthen their security system. In order to achieve

self-defence, states build and ramp up their own military to protect themselves hence leading

to other states doing the same leading to arms race which leads to ‘security dilemma’ thus a

spiral of insecurity, ending up causing war. For example, E. H. Carr says that "the most serious

wars are fought in order to make one's own country militarily stronger or, more often, to prevent

another from becoming militarily stronger''.

Similarly, in case of Peloponnesian war Sparta had to attack Athens because it had grown

stronger. Another example of security dilemma which led to war is that of Europeans at the
beginning of the World War I in which they were compelled to go to war because they were

insecure over the alliances of their neighbours even though they were not desiring the war.

3. Struggle for power

Classical realism is a state level theory that argues that all states seek power, which is driven

by desire to achieve national interests (Survival). Power is the key concept for realists and they

argue that to survive, states must increase their power by internal development such as in the

economic system, technological, diplomatic and military means. The theory argues that states

seek to increase their power because on international level, anarchy allows powerful states to

do whatever they want to do. In the words of Thucydides, “the strong do what they will; the

weak do what they must”. Therefore, classical realist argue that states has to relay on

themselves for their security (self-help) and power maximization is the only way to serve the

national interest and protect the sovereignty of a state.

4. Morality

Another core principle of Classical Realism is the refusal to accept the application of morality

to international politics. Classical Realists believe that morality has nothing to do

with international politics. Realism in its purest form, according to Machiavelli, argue that the

state of international politics means that states are under no moral duties to abide by

(Follow) moral codes. Machiavelli’s analysis of international politics overrides moral duties as

the security of states is the top priority for statesman. Machiavelli argues that morals do not

follow “the order of things” and that the system punishes those who observe moral traditions

instead of the state’s national interest.

E H. Car's book The Twenty Year’s Crisis attacks the utopian idealism of international relations.

Carr challenges the idea of moral universalism and the ‘harmony of interests’ stating that

morality can only be relatable, not universal, and that the ‘harmony of interests’ is used by
groups to “justify and maintain their dominant position”. Carr and other Classical Realists

believe that states cannot have comparable morals, therefore, harmony among states cannot

be guaranteed as no states have universal morality.

Hans Morgenthau elaborates on this point by stating that concept of interest is defined in terms

of power and that power will trump one’s moral code in international politics. He further asserts

that one’s own moral or ideological codes cannot guide a state’s political action. This shows

that statesmen should be prudent and that one should consider the interests of the state rather

than one’s own morality, if not they can risk the security of the state as the international system

is in a ‘struggle for power’.

CRITICISM

Critics of classical realism noted that if the human desire for power, inscribed on states, was

driving the recurrence of interstate war, how could we explain long periods of peace? This was

later argued by the architect of Neo Realism, Kenneth Waltz that the amount of peace and war

in an anarchic international system depends critically on the distribution of power, described

in terms of system structure (unipolar, bipolar and multipolar).

CLASSICAL REALISM IN 21ST CENTURY

Towards the end of the twentieth-century, Neo-Realism (Structural) dominates Realist thinking

in international politics. But, in a time where globalisation is in rapid expansion, Realists are

turning back to Classical Realist thought. Neo-Classical Realism brings Neo-Realist thought

together with Classical Realist principles especially the perception that states act in some

certain ways due to human nature.

An example could be Israel, as it has the genuine belief that they are under threat from other

states and state actors. A Classical Realist argument to this situation is that Israel acts in the

way it does since they see their interests and security under threat so it is in human nature to

protect their sovereignty; therefore, human nature can still be applied theoretically to the
behaviour of states. The Classical Realist principle of anarchy can be still applied to today’s

globalising world as states still are not under any central power authority that can keep peace

and enforce laws and codes despite international institutions like the United Nations. Therefore,

states will pursue their own self-interest as no authority figure can stop them. In the case of

Israel, a Classical Realist would argue that they realise that there is anarchy in the international

system with no world government governing what they do in the international arena. Thus,

they realise it is a self-help system. This leads to a struggle for power as states see this as

a threat to their own sovereignty, so they too try to improve security to protect their interests

just like Israel and its Middle Eastern neighbours.

CONCLUSION

To conclude Classical Realism has core principles that are relevant in today’s globalising

world. Classical realists believe that state actions are derived from human nature and because

of anarchy in the international system, states will pursue their own national interests because it

is a self-help system which leads to a struggle for power. Classical Realists believe that

morality cannot be applied to international politics as states will ultimately pursue their own

national interest over morality, as it is human nature in a self-help system. The human nature

theory is beginning to come back into the sphere of neo-realist thinking as states will still

behave in egotistic and arrogant way because according to Hans Morgenthau’s animus

dominandi humans have an instinct to dominate. This leads to states acting in certain ways

because they see it as a self-help system due to the anarchical nature of the system, which also

leads to a struggle for power among states. Therefore, states cannot be trusted as states will

pursue their interest over the moral codes that have been prescribed put forth by today’s

globalising world