POLI 205 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Politics Among Nations, Fungibility, Neoclassical Realism
Document Summary
The dominant paradigm of the study of ir. The paradigm of realism was born with hans morgenthau"s book politics among. Realism explains international relations in terms of power. Relations between states are characterized by power politics. Realists claim that they look at the world in terms of how it really is, rather than how it ought to be. The realists are interested in the causes of war and how we can achieve peace. For classical realists, cause of war lies in human nature. People are viewed as sel sh and self-centered; people think of themselves rst and take care of themselves rst. This view of human nature provides the foundation for realism. Realism: the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. Three propositions of realism: states are the most important actors in international relations, states are rational actors and unitary actors.