Internatioal Relations, Political Science

1. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
AY 2008/2009, SEMESTER 1
PS2237: International Relations
Is it plausible to argue that Realism possesses an “eternal relevance” in explaining the
conduct of nation states?
Done by:
Azmi Suhaimi
© 2010 by Azmi Suhaimi Page 1

2. Is it plausible to argue that Realism possesses an “eternal relevance” in explaining the
conduct of nation states?
Realism is arguably widely regarded to be the dominant theory in International
Relations, due to its long tradition, and its ability to explain the advent of wars and crises
which had been a regular feature over history. This aspect was most obvious in the interwar
years of 1919-39, where “idealist” scholars failed to predict the advent of the Second World
War, and which brought credence back to Realism. Hans J. Morgenthau espouses the
defining core of Realism as holding the assumption that the state is the principal actor in
international politics, with its interest defined in power, and with the awareness that the world
environment is a perilous place. (Morgenthau, 1948, pp. 6-8) However, it is important to ask
whether such assumptions by Realism, hold an “eternal relevance” in the contemporary
context of International Relations, and whether the state-centric ideology of power still is
gaining credence today? I seek to agree with the question posed, by asserting that Realism
still does hold relevance in the conduct of nation states, but I would propose to qualify the
statement, by weighing in the other threats to the conduct between nation states, proposing
Realist theoretical solutions to mitigate such threats. Thus is my hypothesis, keeping in mind
the absolute nature of the words “eternal relevance” in my argument.
Realism is based on four key assumptions. Firstly, states are regarded as the principal
actors and are the key units of analysis. International organizations such as Multinational
organizations, terrorist groups are acknowledged, but they are always seen as being less
important. (R.Viotti & V.Kauppi, 1993, p. 6) In Realism, states are also seen as the unitary
actor, to be having one policy at one time on a particular issue, with the further assumption of
them being the rational actor, by selecting the choices that maximizes utility given the
situation. Such is particularly evident in the instances of game theory, where a zero-sum
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3. game of relative gains is applied during instances of negotiations under a Realist lens.
(R.Viotti & V.Kauppi, 1993, pp. 49-51) Finally, national security is key under the Realist
ideology, where a realist focuses on actual or potential conflicts between state actors, and
examines how international stability is attained, focussing most on the high politics of power
and security instead of low politics of economic and social issues. However, a few questions
have been brought up amongst the assumptions of Realism, for example, that of it being the
rational actor in creating foreign policy. Was it in the Japanese decision to attack Pearl
Harbour in 1941? Was it in American’s policy of invasion of Iraq? Realists have argued that
these assumptions cannot be seen in definite lenses of it being right or wrong; it should be in
fact seen as hypotheses to be useful in helping the theorist develop it and then test with the
real world. (Morgenthau, 1948). Realism somewhat brings direction in maximizing the
interests of the state in a hostile environment, and that could be the factor on why it has been
a popular rhetoric to get by for policy makers (Keohane, 1986).
Realism as a school of thought has evolved and encompassed a broad church of ideas,
due to its continuity and evolving nature. Tim Dunne and Brian C. Schmidt have quoted the
leading contemporary Realist, Robert Gilpin, as explaining the fact that the ideology is a
group of laws which transgresses history and geopolitics, (Dunne & Schmidt, 2005, pp. 164-
165), thus explaining its enduring qualities in spite of changes which may have undermined
its credibility as an effective tool politics. The idea of “eternal relevance” posed is rather apt
in this sense as Realism recognizes that a theory without a means to change cannot
effectively preserve itself. (Dunne & Schmidt, 2005, pp. 164-165). Such previous challenges
to the “death of Realism’’ were sounded in various stages of the past, namely that of the
interwar years as mentioned above, transnationalism of the 1970s, and more recently, the end
of the Cold War of the 1990s. However, Realist thought has effectively managed to sidestep
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4. these obstacles by continually reinventing its angles through vigorous theorizing by several of
their leading exponents.
One example is in trying to map out Realism into three historical periods: Classical
Realism, Modern Realism and Neo-Realism. Classical realism widely regarded as starting
through Thucydides (400-471 B.C.) and the Peloponesian War, faced enduring continuity
right up to Machiavelli (1469-1527), where the logic of power politics still gained credence,
and further more apparent in the times of World War 1 and 2, where wars after another gave
the twentieth century realists conviction that humans were inherently aggressive and
depended on vested interests to act. (Morgenthau, 1948) Over time, mid-twentieth century
realists such as Carr modified some aspects of Realism by proposing that acting purely
through vested interests and power would only be self-consuming, and advocated good
leadership which was in line with the international order. (Carr, 1939, pp. 86-88)
Therein also developed the question on whether international politics was a result of
only human nature, which led to the theorizing of Neo-Realism, where the distribution of
power in the international system and that of capabilities across units, decided the number of
Great Powers at any one time. (Waltz, 1979) Structural realists regarded the bipolar system,
like that of the U.S. and Soviet Union, during the Cold War, as the most stable distribution of
power. Structural Realism was also touted to bring a more vigorous theoretical aspect of
Realism, updating the school of thought in making it seem more scientific and allowing it
more relevance. However, the Realists were dealt with a hammer blow to their argument
when the Cold War collapsed from within, as the Soviet Union succumbed to its own
nationalistic upheavals and not from any struggle for balance among states in the no longer
bipolar world. How did they manage to manoeuvre along these supposed indications towards
it losing relevance? Realists responded by arguing that a state in decline would try to reverse
the process by stopping its external commitments. (Dunne & Schmidt, 2005, p. 177)
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5. However, in their earlier general predictions, they had actually predicted the opposite. What
does this show? It goes on to mean that Realists are quick to attach itself to any possible
results and consequences and have the ability to explain it from their perspective. John
Vasquez put it aptly when he critiqued: “The great virtue of realism is that it can explain
almost any foreign policy event. Its great defect is that it tends to do this after the fact, rather
than before”. (Vasquez, 1999, p. 324)
Realism ideology evolved again in the 90s, with the emergence of the “Neoclassical
realists” as described by Gideon Rose in 1998. This was made as an attempt to bring together
classical realism factors of the unit with that of structural realism, with advocates like Fareed
Zakaria and Walt. There is also the Rational choice realist, who feel the role of international
institutions in providing a means to cooperative arrangement under certain conditions,
without losing the key assumptions of Realism. (Dunne & Schmidt, 2005, p. 171) This
particular group of Realists thus plugs the gap questioned by Liberalists over the relevance of
international institutions and also accusations that Realists only tend to wave away the
increasing importance of such.
The advent of the September 11 attacks proved to be a turning point for Realist
ideology, marking the end of the post-Cold war era. Realists had accused the Liberals of
being wrong in their claim that war was going to be obsolete after the collapse of the Soviet
Union. However, the war fought against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam’s Iraq was
termed a war against “terrorism”. Yes, those were states attacked, but the new framework to
attack was now a global network of Al Qaeda operatives, a transnational organization which
does not present a conventional war to the Realist. Liberalists were proposing the rise of a
pacifist “world order” by the coalition of the willing (Dunne & Schmidt, 2005, p. 178) but the
brief multilateralism by the United States was only in short-term as the U.S. needed
intelligence from other states to track and capture such terrorists. (Waltz K. , 2002) It was not
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6. in fact a “coalition of the willing “at all as the U.S. preceded to defy the United Nations
Council and attack the state of Iraq, with the United Kingdom being their only major
diplomatic and military ally. Such actions were condemned even by Realists themselves, who
advocated deterrence as per the Cold war as they felt that it was not of National Interest. Even
32 leading realist thinkers co-signed their affirmation in the New York Times of 2002 (Dunne
& Schmidt, 2005, p. 178) This shows the flexibility of Realism in adapting to the changing
facets of international politics as critiqued by Vasquez above, but in this case, their
opposition towards the Iraq War is increasingly proving to be right. Thus, the realist camp
has now increasingly managed to remain as a relevant school of thought in the contemporary
framework of International Relations.
What about globalization? Could it be a threat to the “eternal relevance” of realism?
The emergence of transnational advocacy networks address issues that concern human rights
such as that of child labour, which may go unnoticed and unchecked within the borders of a
state and are not brought up by state-centric Realism. (Keck & Sikkink, 1998) Could their
demands challenge the power and sovereignty of a state? The increasing numbers and
influence of Non-state actors such as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and even
individuals like Andrew Carnegie challenge the Realist assumption of States being the
principal actors of international politics. More pertinently, the actions of Non-governmental
organizations have advocated on issues of conscience and welfare that nation-states turn a
blind eye on, even those of the environment. Who is to blame for the Tragedy of Commons?
However, Realists beg to differ. Kenneth Waltz has labelled globalization as the “fad
of the 1990s”, which has been overemphasized and that only involved much of the United
States. He argued that globalization is essentially an American instrument for the global
economy, and that the State had not lost its power, it has in fact expanded its functions to
even a larger base. He states further that States change according the environment and also
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7. adapt to changes in responses to policy issues, and that no other actor can be on par to the
state in terms of success rate and capabilities. This is due to the argument that States
themselves are capable in creating the institutions that make internal peace possible, and
whether it succeeds or fails is due to State capabilities, not globalization. (Waltz K. , 1999)
Despite the challenges to its “eternal relevance”, even by the appeal of globalization
as well, Realists have gone about to modify and qualify their stand over time, but to still hold
on to their core assumptions, as a proof of a certain resilience and “timeless” factor of its
theories. This could be regarded as proof that Realism as a relevant school of thought in
International Relations can still hold ground in determining the conduct within nation states.
Even if the vision of a state-centric international arena is being weakened, Realists still do
believe that it still holds the key to power and governance in the 21st century.
To conclude, I seek to agree with the question posed, by asserting that Realism still
does hold “Relevance” in the conduct of nation states, but I would propose to qualify the
statement, by stating that it will hold “Eternal Relevance” as long as it continues on its aspect
of resilience and as long as the state-centric assumption still holds.
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8. Bibliography
Brown, S. (1992). International Relations in a Changing Global System. Central Avenue: Westview
Press.
Bull, H. (1977). The Anarchical Society. Hong Kong: Macmillan.
Carr, E. H. (1939). The Twenty Years' Crisis 1919-1939. London: Palgrave.
Dunne, T., & Schmidt, B. C. (2005). Realism. In J. Baylis, & S. Smith, The Globalization of World
Politics: An Introduction to International Relations (pp. 164-65). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keck, M. E., & Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International
Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Keohane, R. (1986). Neo-Realism and its Critics. New York: Columbia University Press.
Morgenthau, H. J. (1948). Politics Among Nations. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
R.Viotti, P., & V.Kauppi, M. (1993). International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism.
New York: Macmillan.
Vasquez, J. A. (1999). The Power of Power Politics: From Classical Realism to Neotraditionalism.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Waltz, K. (1999). Globalization and Governance. PS: Political Science and Politics , 32 (4), 693-700.
Waltz, K. (2002). The Continuity of International Politics. In K. Booth, & T. Dunne, Worlds in Collision:
Terror and the Future of Global Order (p. 349). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Waltz, K. (1979). The Theory of International Politics. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
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