Classical Realism and Liberal Internationalism - Essay Example

? ical Realism Alternative to Liberal Internationalism s Submitted by s: (1650 words) Introduction In realism approach, there is little space for morality and sometimes it is completely absent in the theorists decisions or opinions. The realism approach strictly observes and basis its argument on realism regardless of the final outcome. In the political context, realism observes the fact that one cannot avoid thinking of how the world would have actually been, even when the normative concerns are irrelevant. Realism is also a straight forward exposure of the numerous cases where the normative arguments are important in political life. Primarily, realists emphasize on the irrelevance of morality other than in a few occasions; the classical realist realized the close links between domestic and international politics, interests and ethics. Universalist discourse of liberal internationalization, on the other hand, stresses on the aspects on morality; for example, ideational liberalism tensions on the impacts of behaviour of the state on conflict and compatibility on the collective social values/identities in relation to nature of the public good provision. In other words, relationships and morality count in this liberalism. Is communitarian ethics of classical realism a viable and attractive alternative to liberal internationalism? The easy seeks to argue this fact that indeed, realism is a suitable and viable alternative to Universalist discourse of liberal internationalization. The essay is categorised into three parts; an introduction, discussion and a conclusion. Discussion Taking a look at the recent revolutions and uprising against the sitting governments in Libya, there have been calls for the interventions of foreign military support to the rebels. Proponents of this notion have been calling for the involvement of the United States to support the rebels with their military, as this would spread liberalism and save lives. It would provide an equal ground against the government, which had the disposal of the military in the country to deal with the rebels and seize the revolution. It can be observed that the revolution had an effect of bringing political chaos to both ends, as well as destruction to the nation’s wellbeing for a long period of time. Advocates of both interventions do not seem to fully comprehend the use of force in contributing to political order as in the first place the scenarios happening were created by the absence of a strong state to instil liberal norms, strong government institutions and a sense of nationalism to the citizens (Elbow, 2003, p.19). Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi was ready to kill Libyans; the same people he says love him but have a funny way of showing him as he refers to the rebels wanting him out of power. Humanitarians called for the intervention of the United States military to stop Gaddafi from killing his own people who were revolting against him (McElroy, 2011, para 3). The successful overthrowing of his government was followed by elections in July 2012. A General National Congress was voted in and a political coalition widely regarded as the liberal option accorded power, the National Forces Alliance having won 39 seats over the Justice and Construction party affiliated to a Muslim Brotherhood with 17 seats nationwide. I will rationally argue that classical realists’ works such as Morgenthau and Thucydides remain foundational texts for international relation scholars and are cited more frequently than their counterparts in the disciplines of social sciences. This can be attributed to the fact that international relations are still young in its field and feels the need to justify itself intellectually. It shows the need and resolve to have lucid, defensible readings of text that build reliable bridges between realism and the problems that will be of interests to the scholars in the contemporary world such as those formulating liberal internationalism. I will argue that international relations theory has over time been ignored by most policy makers and often considered irrelevant by those few who make the effort to familiarize themselves with the literature due to their insignificance in impacting change. To a greater degree, theory and policy have both become divorced from ethics due to the nature of the policy makers as well as the application of such policies. Those who have inspired or initiated efforts to combiner policy and ethics would certainly have claimed to be acting in the name of moral principle, and in many instances they would no doubt have been sincere in doing so. But there is a contention on whether the outcome of such encouragement, like those of so many other good intentions of policy makers, would justify this claim is questionable (Russell, 1999, p. 3). For theoreticians, ethics is a largely extraneous concern, of interest only so far as ethical commitments influence the calculations of actors whose behaviour they are trying to predict and explain by use of literature and the adoption of morality in the making of foreign policies. For the many policy makers, ethics at its best provides useful rationalization for policies that are committed to for other reasons, and at worst, imposes constraints most often in forms of laws and regulations that they lack the power to ignore, (Doyle & Michael, 1997). Dunne, Kukri & Smith, (2002), offers an argument that this brief account of the neoconservative analysis of the challenge of politics in modernity and its stress on political virtue as a means of meeting the challenge of nihilism provides a basis for understanding neo-conservatism’s approach to international relations. While neo-conservatism is often characterized as a form of Realism, many of its most enlightening features contrast to Realism (Lebow, 2003). Nowhere is this more clearly expressed than in the understanding of the concept of the national interest underpinning the NeoReaganite foreign policy and national greatness conservatism advocated by prominent contemporary figures such as David Brooks, William Kristol and Robert Kagan. I would argue the same way as the neo-conservatism notion that the national interest of a country is not just an analytical concept, nor can it be reduced to a physical premeditate imperative but it can rather be attributed as a barometer of the health of a political order as well as stability, and particularly a mark of decadence or vibrancy and virtue in a society, (George, 1946). Realism is not only theoretically misleading, it is destructive of the political virtue of a society, and thus is a threat to the very existence of the polity itself. Against this background, neo-conservatism try to find or to rescue American philosophy through a salvage and remobilization of republican virtue, (Williams, 2005: 310). I share the same sentiment with Bell, (2010: 94) that realism seems an odd theme to include in the same field as ethics and world politics. Many political theorists view realism as a tradition of politic thought that denies the role of ethics and morality. One of the main foundations of the realism is the view that moral and ethical judgments have no place in discussions of international affairs or foreign policy. Realists’ ideologies insist that the nature of international relations rules out morality in the sphere, as the conduct of a nation is, and should be guided and judged exclusively by the moral requirement of the national interest in accordance to the policies it has formulated in international relations (Droplet, 200: 89-110; Lebow, 2005). Although realists focus on four primary propositions; politics is a structure formulated by power and coercion, political institutions can constraint conflicts on political community’s power and a possible conflict. In addition, the government adopts a hierarchy of priorities in which government interests come before any other consideration and powerful states set the terms of interactions. A realist vision is primarily pessimistic and international politics marked by the constant power struggles and conflicts. The realists see international politics as a realm of recurrence and repetition; this is a clear contrast to Universalist discourse of liberal internationalization, which advocates for a different dimension towards a political thought. Conclusion The belief of realism denies space for morality, or gives minimal space and this makes it easy target for political theorists. Norman concerns were irrelevant in shaping international politics, it does not follow that we should avoid thinking about how the world should be organised. It is also straightforward to put points to numerous cases where normative arguments do play important roles in political life. While some realists have made implausible claims about the irrelevance of morality, they are the exception to the rule. This can be put into perspective as we roll back the time and remember the role of anti-imperial campaigns in ending European imperialism in the mid-twentieth century and the success of the abolitionist crusade to eradicate slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Hence, I can conclusively say that realist theorising encompasses a diverse range of ethical arguments. From the above argument I agree that communitarian ethics of classical realism is a viable and attractive alternative to liberal internationalism. Although it promotes core political values of national security and state survival in aspects of international relations; it has no room for ethics. It is a traditional interpretation of ideals that needs to be replaced with modern ideals. Liberal Internationalism has been eroded over time and replaced introduction of internationalism and this brings about a question of choice (Kamminga, n.d, p.5-10). This argument is also supported by Moszkowicz (2007, p. 281-920) on the argument that the military intervention and humanitarian actions are ethical. Although highly criticized by neoconservatives, the realism approach to ethics gives the realistic view of things unlike the liberal approach. The essay primarily focused on justifying the fact that indeed, realism is a suitable and viable alternative to Universalist discourse of liberal internationalization. Using primary and secondary sources of data as well as actual examples (such as Libya), the author was able to backup and strengthen the argument. The sources contained information on classical theorists’ ideologies on realism and Universalist discourse of liberal internationalization. This allowed the discussion to be based on the actual contexts of the ideologies as well as give a real example of their application. References Bell, D. (2010). Ethics and world politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Doyle & Michael. (1997). Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism and Socialism. New York: Norton. Dunne, T., Kurki, M., & Smith, S. (2007). International relations theories: Discipline and Diversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kamminga, M., R. (n.d). “Is Neo-realism obsolete”? Crossroads. 9:1, 5-39 McElroy, D. (17 feb, 2011). Libya protests: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi turns helicopter gunships on own people. The Telegraph. Available at; < http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8331117/Libya-protests-Colonel-Muammar-Gaddafi-turns-helicopter-gunships-on-own-people.html > Lebow, R. N. (2003). The tragic vision of politics: Ethics, interests, and orders. New York Cambridge University Press. Lebow, R., N. (2005). The Tragic Vision of Politics: Ethics, Interests and Orders. Journal of Politics 2005 Moszkowicz, D. (2007). “Michael Walzer’s Justification of Humanitarian Intervention: communication? Cosmopolitan? Adequate?” Political Theology. 8: 3, 281-297. Russell, R. L. (1999). George F. Kennan's strategic thought: The making of an American political realist. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Williams C. M., (2005).What is the National Interest? The Neo-conservative Challenge in IR Theory.University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK Read More