Week 3 - Realism I

Question 1

Thucydides Writings

Answer 1

• wrote literature on the Peloponnesian war (Athens vs Sparta) - shows problems with power politics, calls for moderation
• to realists, Thucydides discovered the natural law of international politics: when power is out of balance, others form an alliance to challenge and balance, resulting in war
• key ideas about: anarchic nature, inevitability of conflict, realpolitik, morality
• showcases how these are eternal laws

Question 2

State’s National Interests

Answer 2

National interests depend on strategic and economic resources of states, no ideologies or the outcome of internal disputes
states promote moral ideals, yet these are just a cover for the pursuit of power, security, or economic gain
- they use morality as a justification for what they are already doing

Question 3

Morgenthau’s Classical Realism

Answer 3

• objective laws governing the actions of societies could be derived from human nature
• believes that humans want power, competition for power among states,
• LEADERS MUST MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS NOT MORAL IDEALS
• ethican behaviour very often conflicts with politics

Question 4

Morgenthau on the Cold War

Answer 4

Argues that this was not an ideological conflict, but a superpower contest

Question 5

The Melian Dialogue

Answer 5

• power and morality and realpolitik in IR
  A dramatic dialogue: the Melians want idealism (hope, justice and neutrality), Athenians want destruction and submission of Melians
  The Melians refuse to surrender on moral grounds, leading them to be raped and pillaged by the Athenians

“The strong do what they can and the weak do what they must”
Showcases the consequences of ignoring power dynamics in favour of moral arguments

Question 6

Moral Action of Man

Answer 6

Prevailing school of thought - ‘moral’ action means the greatest attainment of human satisfaction
- under extreme conditions - man acts in accordance with traditional ethics and against better knowledge - becoming unaware of the differences between utilitarian ethics and their own experiences

Question 7

Practices of Politics and Ethics

Answer 7

Strong tendency to minimize the descrepancies between the commands of ethics and the practices of politics, however, the political sphere should be seperate from the private for ethical evaluation - the private ethical standard is thought to be the model

when a statesman is confronted with a choice between an ethical action and an unethical one but it will yield positive results, they must pick the unethical one
- the individual is moral by nature but political society is immoral by nature

By subjective political action to particular ethical standards, political action takes the ethical evaluation of political action for granted - state actors are forced to ethicall justify their political actions

• political eladers must sacrafice moral purity for hte survivial of state, no perfect choices

Question 8

Tendency to justify otherwise immoral actions by the ends which they serve is universal

Answer 8

• individuals can act unwisely as long as the consequences only concern themselves
• false moral justification desrives from the origins of the actions - intention of the actor

Question 9

Ethics of responsibility vs conviction

Answer 9

conviction - do what is morally right no matter the outcome, responsibility - do whatever preserves order and minimizes harm