Differences Of Liberalism, Realism, Liberalism And Feminism

Various theories can be applied to analyze world politics and in each distinct theory, there are certain implications about how the international system is and should be dictated. With this in mind, this essay will describe how realism, liberalism and feminism differ in their political analysis of the world by highlighting the distinguishing factors on each theory. In this sense, the essay will first describe realism with its focus on power politics, then progress to liberalism and its critique on the realist perspective and finally concluding on the nuances in the feminist perspective. Each of these perspectives is important in their own right as they help reconceptualize world politics while providing further comprehension of the current …show more content…
Firstly, liberalism stems from a stream of thought that believes that morality, law and international organization can form the basis of global relations to make peaceful cooperation possible. Liberalism is also optimistic about the international community and its ability to achieve diplomatic solutions while viewing states as part of a collective rather than a unitary actor motivated by self-interest. To this end, liberals challenge the realism assumption that the international system is anarchic by that there are norms, institutions and laws that can establish a form of global authority that state can adhere to. Liberalism argues for the complexities of the international system by asserting that the realist viewpoint is unjustified in its blanket claim about the international system. Secondly, liberals take issue with realism’s unitary actors assumption and argue that along with state actors are a number of nonstate actors, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, that contribute to the pursuit of nationalistic goals. Thirdly, liberalism does not consider military force to be the most effective leveraging tool to influence other states, especially when compared to cost-effective, non-military methods such as diplomacy, conflict resolution and peacekeeping efforts. Finally, there is a difference between what liberals and realists consider a …show more content…
This does not necessarily imply peace, but it does incentivize the hegemon to maintain order as they benefit the most from international trade, while also contributing to the prosperity of other nations in their trade. In contrast to unilateral safeguards for world politics, the formation of global alliance to establish stability is known as collective security, which was first proposed by Immanuel Kant. Collective security is the concept of using multilateralism to oppose any actor who threatened the stability of the international system. Also, the inherent collectivism of Kant’s idea secures the interests of the alliance since all would be striving for the same goal, thus deterring self-interested parties while simultaneously protecting weaker nations from global