Download Realism and Idealism

PARADIGMS
Paradigm
 An intellectual framework that structures one’s thinking
about a set of phenomena
 A “cognitive map” that helps to organize reality and to
make sense out of a multitude of events
 Different paradigms offer different models of reality or
views of the world
 Different paradigms have the effect of focusing
attention toward some things and away from others
IDEALIST
As early as the 14th Century the
Italian poet Dante wrote of the
“universality of man” and
envisioned a unified world
state
Immanuel Kant argued that
doing good was an end unto
itself rather than a means to
some other end
IDEALIST
Hope to minimize conflict and maximize cooperation
among nations
Focus attention on legal-formal aspects of international
relations, such as international law and international
organizations
Also focus on moral concerns such as human rights
REALIST
While realists are just as interested as idealists in
conflict management, realists are less optimistic
about the effectiveness of international law and
organization and about the extent of international
cooperation that is possible
Realists view international relations almost exclusively as
a “struggle for power” among competing nation-states
 States, like human beings, have an innate desire to
dominate others
REALIST
The ultimate goal of all countries is security in a hostile,
anarchic environment
Realist policies are determined by power calculations in
pursuit of national security
 Countries satisfied with their situation tend to pursue
the status quo
 Countries that are dissatisfied tend to be expansionist
 Alliances are made and broken based on the
requirements of “realpolitik”
REALIST
Realists focus on military strategy, the elements of
national power, and the nature of national interests
more so than international law and organization
From WWII they learned that the way to prevent future
wars was a “balance of power” capable of deterring
would-be aggressors or on a “concert of powers”
willing to police the world
REALIST
In the 16th Century Machiavelli had
argued in The Prince:
 “it is far better to be feared than loved”
 “he ought not to quit good courses if he can
help it, but should know how to follow evil
courses if he must”
 “he will prosper most whose mode of acting
best adapts itself to the character of the
times; and conversely that he will be
unprosperous, with whose mode of acting
the times do not accord”
Persian Wars
 Colonization brought the Greek city states in conflict with
the Persian Empire
 Result was the Persian Wars (500-479 B.C.)
 In 479 the Persians were defeated at Plataea and forced back
to Anatolia
 After the Persian threat subsided, the Greek poleis formed
an alliance called the Delian League
 Athens supplied most of the military force thanks to its
superior naval fleet and the other poleis provided
financial support
 Sparta, who was originally offered leadership of the league
but declined, became the hegemon of the land-based
Peloponnesian League
In the absence of the Persian threat, Athens transformed the
Delian League into an Athenian Empire
Eventually the other poleis came to resent financing Athens’s
bureaucracy and construction projects
Sparta and many other Greek states came to fear Athens’s
growing power
 When Athens attempted to gain control of supplies of grain, timber, and
precious metals at their source, Sparta declared war
The result was the Peloponnesian War (431-404) in which the
poleis divided up into two sides led by Athens and Sparta
 Representative of the realist emphasis on the balance of power
 Small, relatively sparsely
populated island in the Cretan
Sea
 Surrounded by several other
smaller islands which were
members of the Athenian
Empire
 Officially, Melos was allied with
the Spartans (Lacadaemons) in
the Peloponnesian War,
because Melos was originally a
Lacedaemonian colony
The Melians, however, remained neutral and did not
send arms, men, or boats to the Spartans
The Athenians sent a delegation to Melos to demand
that the Melians become a tribute state of the
Athenian Empire, but the Melians asked to remain
neutral
In the ensuing Dialogue, the Athenians present a
decidedly realist argument to support their case
 After ending the dialogue the Athenian envoys
returned to the army and commenced hostilities
 In the end, the Melians were compelled to surrender
 The Athenians then killed all the military-aged men and
made slaves of the women and children
 They colonized the island and sent 500 of their own
settlers there
Questions:
Use specific examples and/or brief quotations from the readings to illustrate your
points. Read the Melian Dialogue and respond to the following:
1. Summarize the main Melian argument.
2. Summarize the main Athenian argument.
3. What reasons do the Athenians present for explaining why they are
unconvinced by the Melians’ arguments?
4. What different ideas are presented about what is just or what is right?
5. Do the needs (or the lives) of the many always outweigh the needs (or the
lives) of the few? When might they not?
6. How good do the ends have to be to justify immoral/illegal means? Or do the
ends never justify such means?