Realism (Political Science)

Neo- or structural realism is famously said to lack a theory of the state. Resisting the urge to devise one, I would instead argue that structural realist theories—most notably the original theory of Kenneth Waltz—implicitly contain a theory of the state. What has eluded commentators is that this theory is prescriptive rather than descriptive. Insightful readers like Goddard and Nexon and Rathbun have unpacked Waltz’s (nondeterminative) prescriptions for state behavior in the international system. This article will unpack those prescriptions for state order. Two conclusions emerge from this analysis: (i) structural realism implicitly reads essential features of the modern state into what are otherwise proclaimed to be nonspecific like units in anarchy and (ii) the ideal-typical state prescribed by Waltz’s theory most resembles Hobbes’ Leviathan. Making these connections explicitly may indicate why certain historical systems are a better “fit” for Waltz’s analytical construct and also serves to properly situate structural realist theories within the larger framework of political (not international relations) liberalism.

There are more types of borders today than ever before in history. Borders of all kinds define every aspect of social life in the twenty-first century. From the biometric data that divides the smallest aspects of our bodies to the aerial drones that patrol the immense expanse of our domestic and international airspace, we are defined by borders. They can no longer simply be understood as the geographical divisions between nation-states. Today, their form and function has become too complex, too hybrid. What we need now is a theory of the border that can make sense of this hybridity across multiple domains of social life.

Rather than viewing borders as the result or outcome of pre-established social entities like states, Thomas Nail reinterprets social history from the perspective of the continual and constitutive movement of the borders that organize and divide society in the first place. Societies and states are the products of bordering, Nail argues, not the other way around. Applying his original movement-oriented theoretical framework "kinopolitics" to several major historical border regimes (fences, walls, cells, and checkpoints), Theory of the Border pioneers a new methodology of "critical limology," that provides fresh tools for the analysis of contemporary border politics.

Temel anlamıyla güç, bir olayın sonucunu ne gerekiyorsa yaparak elde etme olarak tanımlanabilir. Bir aktörün kendi tercihleri dışında yapmayacağı bir şeyi başka bir aktör sayesinde yapması veya bir aktörün bir şeyi yapmasını önlemek güç kullanımına örnek olarak gösterilebilir. Pek çok açıklamaya sahip olan güç kavramı etki, amaç veya yeterlilik olarak da tanımlanmaktadır. Güç, karmaşık ve ilişkisel bir kavramdır. Neredeyse insanlık tarihi kadar eski olan ‘‘güç’’ kavramı günümüzde de hala etkin olarak kullanılmakta özellikle uluslararası ilişkiler alanında çokça karşımıza çıkmakta ve birçok olayda açıklayıcı olan bir kavramdır. Sosyal bilimlerde karşımıza çıkan güç kavramı geçmişten günümüze kıyaslayıcı bir unsur olarak da karşımıza çıkmıştır. Güç kavramının eski olmasına karşın algılanamaması, dönemden döneme değişen güç kıstasları ve bu gücün uygulanma değişikliğinden kaynaklanmaktadır. Güçlü olan zayıf olanı yener veya büyük balık küçük balığı yer yaklaşımı güç kavramının önemine atıfta bulunmaktadır. Tarihsel olarak pek çok olayın açıklanmasında karşımıza çıkan güç kavramı günümüz siyasetinde ve uluslararası ilişkilerde etkin olarak kullanılmaya devam etmektedir. Bu çalışmada güç kavramı tanımı yapılmış realizm bakış açısı ile incelenmiş, uluslararası ilişkiler açısından güç kavramının önemi ile sert, yumuşak ve akıllı güç kavramı incelenmiştir.

During the twentieth century the protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was an important public intellectual. From the Thirties until the Sixties he wrote numerous historical, theological and political works, and was a tireless polemicist and animator of some journals. Not only has he influenced the development of American politics but also he has inspired the reflections of some authors of classical realism in IR. This essay analyses the inextricable and fertile relationship between politics and religion in Niebuhr’s theory. Rejecting both sentimental idealism and cynical realism he argued a “Christian realism” in which the legacy of St. Augustine’s thought was strong. Through his tamed realism, that was based on the Christian view of human nature and history, Niebuhr analysed and judged national and international politics of the United States. In this way, he offered a prophetic world order vision that is probably still valid today.

Sobreponiéndose al ideal que se impone a la teoría política que circunscribe a su actividad a la búsqueda del bien común y se detiene, por esa razón, en la investigación de los principios capaces de viabilizar la instauración del buen gobierno, la perspectiva de Maquiavel, a través del fundamento de la experiencia y de las ejemplificaciones de la historialidad, converge para la descubierta de leyes que posibiliten la fundación de un Estado, la obtención del poder y la conservación, la institución de la ciencia empírica de la política, que, caracterizada por la objetividad y realismo, demanda, en el ámbito de la relación que envuelve ética y política, una distinción entre la moral privada y la moral pública, implicando una correspondencia con la interpretación de Weber, qua analiza los fundamentos del poder e imputa al Estado la condición de detentor de la violencia “legítima”, identificando la política como una relación de dominación y la posibilidad del ejercicio de dos éticas, el saber, la “ética de las ultimas finalidades” (“ética de la convicción”) y la “ética de la responsabilidad”.

Beyond geopolitics. The Sino-Russian relations in the late 2010s Since more than a decade the international (Western) academia has been considering Sino-Russian relations as an "Axis of Convenience": a temporarily, shallow , tactical alliance prone to changing circumstances; a one that may turn into antagonism should international situation evolve. This approach reached its climax after Donald Trump's victory in US Presidential elections in 2016: many believed that there would soon be "a reverse Nixon's strategy". The reality has falsified these theses and showed that Sino-Russian relations have solid foundations. These more stable base of Russia-China relations was born in late 2000s when Russian ruling elite made a choice and decided that China did not pose a threat to current Russian regime. This elite's understanding paved a way for current Sino-Russian rapprochement.

Ao longo de quase um século de desenvolvimento das Relações Internacionais, alunos e acadêmicos deparam-se com uma variedade de campos teóricos, métodos e temas de pesquisa. Este artigo resume a evolução histórica da disciplina, aponta os principais métodos utilizados e identifica debates contemporâneos, buscando auxiliar estudantes recém-ingressos no curso.

Este capítulo es el primero de la obra colectiva titulada "Seguridad y asuntos Internacionales...". En él se presentan los vínculos entre los Estudios de la Seguridad Internacional y la tradición de pensamiento realista en las Relaciones Internacionales. Se aborda a los ESI a partir de distintas fases del pensamiento realista contemporáneo, desde el realismo clásico hasta el neoclásico, pasando por el neorrealismo en sus distintas vertientes. Tanto la obra en general como este primer capítulo están pensados como referencia de utilidad tanto para expertos como para estudiantes de Ciencia Política, Relaciones Internacionales y área afines.

The Pragmatic Superpower is a latest work produced by two of Washington’s renowned foreign policy experts ─ Ray Takeyh and Steven Simon. The book spread over 10 chapters and deals with re-framing the legacy of the US involvement in the Middle East from the end of the World War II till the disintegration of the United Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991. The book sheds light on the making of the contemporary Middle East from a new perspective. The authors provide undaunted reexamination of how the US was able to spread its influence in this region during the Cold War era.

In a world likely to remain hostage to thousands of nuclear warheads over the long term, in which
ancient realism---or as some wrongly refer to it as Cold-War thinking---appears to be an unbreakable
psychological barrier even for those who thoroughly understand the nuclear “threat of pain and
extinction" (Schelling), meeting Article VI (disarmament) of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) is quite a challenge. Current concerns relative to proliferation tendencies among non-compliant
regimes as well as the potential implications of the still uncertain nuclear renaissance---which, if realized,
would disseminate sensitive (dual-use) nuclear technology among numerous untrustworthy actors---further the disarmament challenge. As a result, all the states parties to the NPT, not to mention those
beyond the nonproliferation regime, have failed to make sufficient efforts within their different nuclear
roles and responsibilities towards meeting the NPT disarmament clause, with many of them exhausting
themselves in a cacophonic debate on who is required to do what under NPT Articles III (nonproliferation safeguards), IV (peaceful use of the atom) and VI.

Foreign Policies of the Great and Emerging Powers

© 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall: Sydney. 318pp. + xvii.

Remy Davison
Jean Monnet Chair in Politics and Economics
Department of Politics and International Relations
Monash University

The book is divided into five parts:
– Part I introduces a number of theories and approaches to the study of foreign policy within the framework of international relations theory.
– Part II deals with the world’s three largest military powers: the US, Russia and China
– In Part III, the analysis shifts to the three major European powers: Britain, France and Germany.
– Part IV is devoted to four ‘emerging powers’ in Asia and the Middle East.
– Part V reviews the case studies and provides some concluding comments on how relations between the great and emerging powers might evolve in the 21st century.

Foreign Policies of the Great and Emerging Powers is concerned primarily with the changing structure of the balance of power operating in contemporary international politics and focuses upon assessing the policy intentions and power capabilities of key actors within such a structure.
One of the key objectives of this text is to evaluate the factors and national interests that underpin policy-making in the major powers. It also addresses fundamental issues in international relations theory: the concept of power; national interests; geopolitical and geoeconomic factors; and the factors that determine foreign policy decision-making.


Part I: Introduction
1. Approaches to foreign policy
2. Explaining the great and emerging powers’ foreign policies

Part II: The great powers
3. The United States: Hyperpower unleashed or incompetent superpower?
4. Russia: Superpower in flux?
5. The People’s Republic of China: Status quo or revisionist power?

Part III:The European powers
6. Britain: European or transatlantic power?
7. France: Multilateral or balancing power?
8. Germany: Economic giant, pacifist power?

Part IV: Emerging powers
9. Japan: An increasingly ‘normal’ power?
10. India: The non-aligned Power?
11. Iran: Regional power or regional threat?
12.I srael: Balancer or destabiliser?

Part V: Concluding comments
13. The great and emerging powers in international politics

The article examines whether realist theory should adopt a philosophical anarchist position concerning political obligation. The conclusions are mixed. Drawing on a distinction between strong and weak theories of political obligation (in the terminology of the paper, strong theories are committed to morality-based theorizing while weak theories depart from it), the article argues that philosophical anarchism and realist theory are natural allies against strong theories of political obligation but they must part company when it comes to weak theories because it is exactly their departure from morality-based theorizing that can make weak theories especially appealing to realists. In addition, two further objections can be raised against philosophical anarchism on realist grounds: first, philosophical anarchists are drawn to undesirably sweeping conclusions about the non-existence of legitimate political authority or the extreme scarcity of genuine political relations by their Kantian or Lockean background assumptions and, second, Simmons seems to have an implicit weak theory of political obligation which could be, ironically, much more appealing to realists than his overall Lockean anarchism or his sweeping criticism of weak theories. All in all, can a realist be an anarchist? Probably, but definitely not on philosophical anarchist grounds.

Russia's premier, Vladimir Putin has garnered various opinions regarding his leadership and handling of state affairs with many arguing that he is bringing Russia to be a major player in power politics. This paper examines the motivations behind Putin's foreign, arguing that the main motivation behind Russian foreign policy today is the drive to restore Russia as one of the world's great powers. This paper will take into account all the events that unfolded during both of Putin's tenancy as president.

Humanitarian intervention in the name of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has been invoked to support interventions against the sanctity of State sovereignty.  For proponents of R2P, Libya appeared to represent the entrenchment of this new 'norm.'  However, similar UN resolutions in regard Syria were vetoed by China and Russia.  This paper outlines the theoretical case for R2P and develops an analysis of the Syrian case in contrast with that of Libya.

En estos tres artículos, que aparecen por primera vez en castellano, bosqueja el autor, junto a una teoría general de la representación política, una relectura del problema permanente de la clasificación de los regímenes. Destaca en ellos particularmente el tratamiento de la cuestión de las causas de la corrupción de todas las formas de gobierno, incluida la democracia. Maquiaveliano riguroso y consciente, Freund no esquiva ninguno de los grandes problemas que siguen dividiendo hoy a quienes se acercan --no siempre libres de prejuicios-- a la realidad tantas veces poco complaciente de la política.

This paper explores the process of legitimation involved in the struggle for secession in Telangana, India.  It argues that this was focussed on the securing of justice in a) gaining access to resources (the legitimation of risk) and b) the exercise of political power (the legitimation of democracy). The plight of Telangana demonstrates the historical and contextual nature of legitimacy. The paper asserts that the ongoing struggle to legitimate risk and democracy will be constitutive of the norms and values of the new state, influencing the way in which exposure to risk is differentiated, and democratic legitimacy defined.  It suggests that, although contextualized, local struggles to legitimate risk and democracy represent a microcosm of a wider global legitimation process which is constitutive of world society and the search for justice in a world at risk.

This collection of essays examines the subject of power politics in Africa, paying special attention to the interests of African regional powers, as well as their capabilities and strategies in the international arena. It provides a theoretical bridge between concerns for militarised national interest, perpetual distrust and insecurity, struggles for power and hegemony in power politics, and the spirit of pan-African solidarity, brotherhood, consensus, cooperation and integration. It is on these bases that this volume offers rich empirical insight into leading regional powers in Africa with special attention given to Nigeria and South Africa. It serves to contribute African perspectives to the field of International Relations, particularly regarding power politics, which is important in terms of Africanising the narratives of a subject matter that is largely considered as Eurocentric in African and other non-Western societies.

Il problema del potere riproduce le dispense del corso di "Scienza della politica" che Norberto Bobbio tenne nell'Università di Torino nel 1966. Un nuovo (e pionieristico) campo di indagine per il filosofo del diritto, che tuttavia rappresenta per certi versi un approdo quasi naturale nel suo itinerario: non solo per gli studi sui teorici dell'elitismo che egli aveva avviato già dalla fine degli anni Cinquanta, ma anche per gli esiti della sua teoria giuridica, giunta a mettere in discussione la chiusura del sistema kelseniano e a guardare, oltre la Norma fondamentale, verso il territorio in cui il diritto incontra il potere. Da questo momento in poi Bobbio ripeterà numerose volte la fortunata formula secondo la quale «diritto e potere sono due facce della stessa medaglia», sintetizzando ef-ficacemente la convinzione che ispirerà tutta la sua successiva riflessione giuridica e politica: lo studio del diritto non può non implicare la riflessione sul potere, e viceversa.

La política exterior de un país puede generar caos o prevenir aislamiento. El caso de Chile bajo la administración de General Augusto Pinochet no era diferente. Hay teóricos que opinan que su política exterior era una política de progreso y productividad. En cambio, hay teóricos que opinan que su política exterior era una política de regresión y represión.
Este artículo explica la política exterior de Pinochet y evalúa su eficacia bajo su régimen castrense (1973-1990) en Chile. Hay que notar que aunque el régimen de Pinochet terminó hace veinticuatro años, su dictadura es relevante porque las repercusiones quedan en Chile y más allá de Chile.
Las teorías y las lecturas relevantes de política pública, relaciones internacionales, los factores que influyen la política exterior, la política exterior de Allende y la de Pinochet, el aislamiento de Pinochet y la restauración de vínculos con socios forman parte del análisis de esta investigación.
Palabras claves: relaciones internacionales, aislamiento, conflicto, nacionalismo, think tanks.

Pinochet and foreign policy: policy or political progress and productivity regression and repression
Abstract
The foreign policy of a country can generate chaos or prevent isolation. The Chilean case under General Augusto Pinochet was no different. There are theorists who believe that his policy was progressive and productive. On the other hand, there are theorists who believe that his policy was regressive and repressive.
This article explains Pinochet‟s foreign policy and evaluates its efficiency under his military regime (1973-1990) in Chile. It is important to note that although Pinochet‟s regime ended twenty four years ago, his dictatorship is relevant because the repercussions still exist in Chile and beyond.
Theories and relevant readings on public policy, international relations, factors that influence foreign policy, the foreign policy of Allende and Pinochet, Pinochet‟s isolation and the restoration of ties with partners form part of the analysis of this investigation.
Key words: international relations, isolation, conflict, nationalism, think tanks.

The Kargil War of 1999 was one of the three wars fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir. Pakistan’s incursion into the Kargil sector of Indian occupied Kashmir across the internationally recognized Line of Control led to a series of military operations that finally culminated in the withdrawal of the Pakistani forces in the face of mounting pressure from the international community. The war was fought against the backdrop of India and Pakistan’s nuclear testing followed by a peace process convened to build confidence in the uneasy security context.
The purpose of this report is to assess the conflict in all its dimensions in order to highlight the key incompatibilities that led to the war. The report conducts a contextual and structural analysis of the conflict, along with an evaluation of the parties involved, the dynamics of the conflict and potential for conflict regulation to reach its final conclusion. The findings of the report show that the conflict was a result of Pakistani military command’s aim to internationalize the Kashmir issue and design a military solution to the dispute. It is also revealed that the nuclear capacities of both the states acted as a deterrent to a nuclear war but it also elicited security concerns globally and drew out a decisive international response.
The report has analyzed all of the aforementioned key components of the conflict to conclude that the Kargil war was fought by Pakistan and India to gain leverage in matters of national security and interests while using the nuclear backdrop as a deterrent to escalation into an all out nuclear war.

SUMMARY
This book demonstrates why the imagination matters for political theory. It explores how narrative art, thought experiments and history can challenge and enlarge our existing ways of thinking about different types of violence: genocide, torture and terrorism. The book advances three broad claims about political theory, violence and the imagination. Firstly, it charts a middle course between the two most prominent approaches in contemporary political theory, namely moralism and realism. Secondly, the book adopts the framework of dynamic nominalism to make sense of the ways in which practices of conceptualizing violence interact with the reality of violence. Thirdly, I argue that political theory ought to contribute to societal and academic debates about violence by offering imaginative judgments as to which conceptualizations best serve the purpose of understanding and responding to violence.

Through its focus on the power of the imagination, the book adds a novel perspective to the current discussion around genocide, torture and terrorism. It concentrates on three ways in which the imagination can become engaged: storytelling, hypotheticals and genealogy. Storytelling can trigger what Ludwig Wittgenstein called “aspect-seeing”, which is crucial for comprehending when definitions of violence need to be expanded. I substantiate this claim through an analysis of two films that can help us see wartime rape as well as climate change as genocidal. Hypotheticals perform a different function: they are estrangement devices that shed new light on prevalent norms. By scrutinizing various strategies for constructing imaginary cases about torture, the book develops a framework for determining the merits of thought experiments. Finally, genealogy uncovers the history of ostensibly self-evident beliefs in order to reveal their contingency. Specifically, the book proposes that a feminist history of the concept of “innocence” has important implications for “object-focused” definitions of terrorism that emphasize the targets of violent attacks.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF EACH CHAPTER
Chapter 1 prepares the ground for the ensuing discussion by introducing the book’s main themes and by outlining its methodology. It explains the basic features of the “politics of naming”, and proposes that a dynamic-nominalist framework can best account for the interactive relationship between defining types of violence and the reality of violence. The chapter then argues for an ameliorative approach to definitions of violence, suggesting that political theory ought to critically assess existing conceptualizations, legal or otherwise, and explore ways to improve them in light of changing real-world circumstances. Finally, the chapter sketches the conception of political theory behind the subsequent argument: democratic and dialogical, rather than hierarchical and self-referential.

Chapter 2 engages with the phenomenon of genocide, and how we may come to terms with it. I argue that it is enlightening to speak of “genocide blindness” when the members of the public sphere are simply incapable of seeing an instance of violence as genocidal. To establish this claim, the chapter introduces Ludwig Wittgenstein’s reflections on “aspect-seeing” to elucidate the importance of changing how political violence is perceived and interpreted. In a second step, the chapter turns to María Pía Lara’s theory of storytelling as a concrete mechanism for triggering this kind of change. Storytelling, and its effect on the viewers’ and readers’ imagination, can help us to grapple with the fluid nature of political violence. Two case studies are discussed to illustrate this claim: Jasmila Žbanić’s film Grbavica (2006) and the documentary Climate Refugees (2010) by Michael Nash.

Chapter 3 deals with the recent torture debates and examines how hypotheticals involving torture can be subjected to critical scrutiny. It develops a framework for normatively assessing these thought experiments. For imaginary cases within the realm of practical – as opposed to theoretical – philosophy to gain any “imaginative grip” at all, they must be action-guiding. This means hypotheticals ought to assist their addressees in making judgments about real-world dilemmas, even if they depict a possible scenario that is remote from reality. The chapter argues that we should distinguish between productive this-worldly hypotheticals and deleterious otherworldly hypotheticals. This distinction is made according to a criterion of modality: although far-fetched, the former construct imaginary cases that are possible for us, here and now, while the latter depict imaginary cases that are barely conceivable at all.

Chapter 4 asks whether attempts to define terrorism according to the targets of violent attacks – innocent non-combatants, in the parlance of Just War theory – are viable. Following in the footsteps of two recent interventions in this debate, by Christopher Findlay and Verena Erlenbusch, the chapter suggests that a genealogical approach is needed for making sense of so-called “object-focused” definitions of terrorism. Genealogy is critical in that it aims to disclose the ways in which our repertoire of norms and principles is constructed through and through. “Innocence”, as feminist scholars have taught us, offers a prime example for this constructedness. Reading “innocence” through this genealogical lens requires that we acknowledge the contingent and potentially problematic character of the values underpinning our theoretical projects.

Chapter 5 draws together the key insights developed in this book. The conclusion reflects on how a more systematic account of the imagination might look like. It points to both the limitations and the potential of the three registers of the imagination discussed in the preceding chapters, and explores the relationship between realist political theory and the imagination.

Resumo O propósito do presente artigo é estabelecer considerações sobre alguns dos pressupostos teórico-metodológicos apresentados na obra " The Tragedy of Great Power Politics " , de John J. Mearsheimer. Para tal, situa o realismo ofensivo no campo teórico e registra observações críticas sobre pressupostos e opções metodológicas de John J. Mearsheimer.
Abstract The purpose of this article is to establish considerations about some of the theoretical-methodological assumptions presented in John J. Mearsheimer's book " The Tragedy of Great Power Politics ". To do so, it places offensive realism in the theoretical field and records critical observations on John J. Mearsheimer's assumptions and methodological options.

In International Relations debates’ we often deal with ‘security’, in both realist and idealist approaches. From Hobbes politics has been concerned about security issues of states and other organizations. Yet, little effort has been made to clarify theoretically what ‘security’ means, and only recent contributions have moved in such direction. Theories of IR have always been polarised between two core concepts: power and peace. These concepts developed mainly during Cold War and have provided narrow views of international affairs, while an approach based on security could deal better with global complexities.
The Copenhagen Security School has provided new frameworks for an enlarged concept of security. It offers an explication of the concept from a constructivist perspective, and this can build our deeper theoretical understanding of ‘security’. Such comprehension would enhance IR debates and it would improve the conditions at which decision-makers elaborate security policies.

This book intends to make sense of how Chinese leaders perceive China’s rise in the world through the eyes of China’s international relations (IR) scholars. Drawing on a unique, four-year opinion survey of these scholars at the annual conference of the Chinese Community of Political Science and International Studies (CCPSIS) in Beijing from 2014–2017, the authors examine Chinese IR scholars’ perceptions of and views on key issues related to China’s power, its relationship with the United States and other major countries, and China’s position in the international system and track their changes over time. Furthermore, the authors complement the surveys with a textual analysis of the academic publications in China’s top five IR journals. By comparing and contrasting the opinion surveys and textual analyses, this book sheds new light on how Chinese IR scholars view the world as well as how they might influence China’s foreign policy.