¶ … international relations: idealism vs. realism
The theories of international relations have been seen as a mechanism thru which practitioners in the area of international politics as well as scholars tried to explain the way in which international politics function and how the behavior of states and actors on the international scene can be anticipated.
The beginning of the 20th century was a period of deep consideration for international politics, given the First World War and its aftermath. The idealistic approach on international politics tried to explain the behavior states had after the end of the war and also define the period between the two conflagrations. The realist theory on the other hand appeared as a result of the Second World War and its aftermath and, although it took into account similar elements, the points made in reference to these elements were somewhat in contrast. There are several key issues that both theories take into account: sovereignty, the state as an actor on the international scene, the relationship between the actors, and the behavior of the states.
Sovereignty:
Sovereignty represents the main attribute of an independent state and is the condition that allows the state to conduct its own foreign policy, to protect its citizens in relation to other states and to have an independent stand on the international arena. It is to this day viewed as the cornerstone of the international system. The Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 established sovereignty as most important rule of the international framework (Kissinger, 1994, pg 50-6), after the 100 years war. This is one of the main elements of the realist line of thinking. More precisely, realists such as Carr believe that a sovereign state is the main actor on the international scene and the most legitimate (Guzzini, 1998, p61-2)....
This form of Wilsonian idealism has been somewhat tempered by a more contemporary reformulation of idealism, social constructivism. " While is has shed the normative mantle of idealism, social constructivism does emphasize that social actors act not only according to their selfish interest, as in realism…but also in response to shared values and norms. Social constructivism therefore stresses that the creation of international institutions in general and international organizations
From this I would take advice from the history of the Swiss -- I would require all children were taught the use of weapons in adolescence, and that upper classes in school coincided with military training. After graduation, every citizen would be required to keep a weapon in the home, and asked to serve in their community guard, which would train a couple times a year. Defense plans would
57). Coker's article (published in a very conservative magazine in England) "reflected unease among some of his colleagues" about that new course at LSEP. Moreover, Coker disputes that fact that there is a female alternative to male behavior and Coker insists that "Whether they love or hate humanity, feminists seem unable to look it in the face" (Smith quoting Coker, p. 58). If feminists are right about the female nature being
In light of the fact that major wars between democratic nations, which are typically trading partners involved in lucrative import/export arrangements, are relatively rare from a historical standpoint, "liberals argue that economic interdependence lowers the likelihood of war by increasing the value of trading over the alternative of aggression ... (as) independent states would rather trade than invade"4 (Copeland, 1996, pg. 5). Unrestrained liberalism has often been touted by
The author explains that is the case because it would lead to complete chaos (Ikenberry 2005). In addition a neo-imperial system of American rule is too expensive and burdened with inconsistencies, and based on an exaggerated accounting of American power (Ikenberry 2005). The asserts that Likewise, there are an array of incentives and impulses that will persuade the United States to try to organize unipolarity around multilateral rules and
International Relations Philosophical Views: International Relations International Relations: Philosophical Views In studying International Relations, there are four philosophical schools of thought used to analyze such studies. Liberalism, realism, radical, and constructivist views have contributed to analyzing this field of study from ancient times to the contemporary era. In its simplest terms, philosophy means the quest for knowledge and truth. It is the quest for wisdom or universal knowledge of the whole. Hence, the
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