POLB80H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Power Politics, Human Nature, Statism
Document Summary
There is no place for morality in the ideology in realism might. Theory = set of assumptions about how the world works so we can simplify things and see patterns. Neo-realist shift the anarchic nature of the international system causes states to behave aggressively: core neo-realist assumptions. States are the most important actors in international relations. Regime type doesn"t matter to realists democracies and authoritarian governments will act the same way: 3. Anarchy causes security dilemmas: without security guarantees, states can"t be sure of each other"s intentions, leading to conflict and war. State balance against each other to protect against powerful: 4. How do they interact: states interact with each other out of fear for their security, seeking power as a way to protect themselves from other states. Level of analysis: the international system is the level of analysis, we want to look at how power is distributed between states in the system.
