3. What are the limits of framing international relations theory in terms of idealism vs. realism? Paul E Atfield
Realism as a political theory dominates the international relations area, historically slaying or engulfing competing theories. Despite the dominance of realism, since idealism was butchered on the battlefields during World War II 1, it has been assigned to the political scrap heap many times. Both the scientific approach in the 1960s and transnationalism in the 1970s merely helped to craft a more robust form of realism. Timothy Dunne2 describes how the presence of realism today is predominantly due to this ability to change, such plurality creates several difficulties when defining the concept of realism. I order to assess the limits of a world framed using idealism and realism we must first define realism by criteria which incorporates the 'highly reified "paradigm"'3. Only once we have established this 'residual substance'4 can we examine the scope of realism as a political theory. Although it would be unfair to belittle the importance of idealism; due to realistic dominants during the post war years, it would also make little sense to examine both theories equally when one accounts for a greater share of our political understanding. I will therefore use idealism, when necessary, to complete voids left by the predominant th
The problems created through the balancing of power are dealt with in Schweller's article in the American Political Science Review, historical examples given show us that balancing of power is temporarily possible and that self help is not the only option. Collective security through the United Nations appears against the notion of self-help, although if so would fall under the classification of idealism. Schweller argues that struggles between states are essential as 'human kind cannot transcend through progressive power to reason'. Regardless, any future shift in international policy to achieve a balance of power that did not fit into a realist mould would surely fall into an idealist one. Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (London, Penguin Group, 1999) 8 Barry Buzan, 'Realism vs. Cosmopolitanism' 10 Dunnes, The Globalization of World Politics, p. 111 - for extract on The Melian Dialogue.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1715
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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