Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide
pter 6: Rea
alism
Chap

Re
ealism has been the dominant
d
ttheory of world
w
politic
cs since thee beginning of
aca
ademic Intternational Relations..

Ou
utside the academy,
a
realism
r
ha s a much longer
l
history in the w
work of cla
assical
political theorrists such as
a Thucyd
dides, Mach
hiavelli, Ho
obbes, andd Rousseau.

The unifying theme aro

ound which
h all realist thinking co
onverges i s that state
es find
emselves in
n the shad
dow of ana rchy such that their security
s
caannot be taken for
the
gra
anted.

At the start of the new millennium

m
m, realism continues
c
to
t attract aacademicia
ans and
info
orm policy-makers, although
a
in
n the period
d since the
e end of thee cold war we have
see
en heighte
ened criticis
sm of realisst assump
ptions.

There is a lacck of conse

ensus as to
o whether we can me
eaningfullyy speak ab
bout
alism as a single coherent theo
ory.
rea

There are go
ood reasons for deline
eating diffe
erent types
s of realism
m.

Strructural rea
alism divides into two
o camps: th
hose who argue
a
that states are
e security
ma
aximizers (defensive realism), a
and those who
w argue
e that statees are powe
er
ma
aximizers (offensive realism).
r

Ne
eoclassical realists brring individ
dual and un
nit variation
n back intoo the theory
y.

Sta
atism is a central
c
ass
sumption o
of realism. This
T
involv
ves two claaims. First, the state
is tthe pre-em
minent actor in world p
politics. Se
econd, statte sovereiggnty signifie
es the
exiistence of an indepen
ndent polittical community, one that has juuridical autthority
ove
er its territo
ory.

Ke
ey criticism: statism is
s flawed on
n both emp
pirical grou
unds (challeenges to state
s
pow
wer from a
above and
d below) a
and normative ground
ds (the inaability of so
overeign

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.

Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide
sta
ates to resp
pond to collective glo
obal proble
ems such as
a famine, environme
ental
deg
gradation, and huma
an rights ab
buses).

Survival: the primary ob

bjective of all states is
i survival; this is the
e supreme national
inte
erest to wh
hich all political leade
ers must ad
dhere.

Ke
ey criticism: are there no limits tto what acttions a statte can takee in the name of
neccessity?

Se
elf-help: no other state
e or institu
ution can be
e relied on
n to guaranntee your survival.
s

Ke
ey criticism: self-help is not an in
nevitable consequen
c
nce of the aabsence off a world
govvernment; it is a logic
c that state
es have se
elected. Mo
oreover, theere are examples
wh
here states have prefferred colle
ective secu
urity system
ms, or form
ms of region
nal
seccurity communities, in preferen
nce to self-help.

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.