Theories Of International Realism

In international relations, ethics have become a popular topic that is subjected to debate as many theorists come to a different conclusion on how to view international morality based on their different approaches. Realism, one of the oldest conglomerate of political theories that speaks on the subject, deems that there is no place for it within the international world. This paper will thoroughly explain the reason realist believe in this position and also utilize two other theories: Morality of States and Cosmopolitanism, to do a comparison of contrasting points of observation. Should a theory be understood throughly, it is vital dissect the ideology into four parts; assumptions, variables, methodologies, and implications, of which each …show more content…
The primary core assumption that Realist make is an observation on their smallest perception of unitary actors: people. People, according to the realism, can be held accountable to certain traits and characteristics. For instance: all people are viewed to be rational actors that only execute actions based on rationality, people are born independent as their rationality will rid them from being swayed by external influences, and people are of all relative build in physic and capability. The secondary general assumption of Realism dictates the environment that the world is in. From the realist perspective the world is a scandalous place for people to live due to two factors that construct the state of nature. The first factor states that the world is in a state of anarchy in which there is no higher authority to provide security for the individual. Thus, for one to survive one can only depend on himself and not expect others to provide help. The second factor is that the world is of limited resources; ergo, the individual’s self-interest in seeking survival results in an inevitable conflict of …show more content…
While Realism is capable of identifying the occurrence of wars as a way to pursue self interests, Cosmopolitans have no explanation on why wars are initiated and how they can be resolved. Similarly, Realist would point out that the Cosmopolitan’s disregard for power politics, which is heavily emphasized in Realism’s focus on military power, leaves Cosmopolitan to be only applicable in a theoretical application, while an analyzation in military strength from Realism can be applied to real world cases. After the analyzation and explanation of domestic and international realm morality for Realism, Morality of States and Cosmopolitanism, it is clear that all three theories has its own strengths and weakness. Although the era in which these theories where constructed hinders its capability of fully explain morality in the current day events; nonetheless, it adds a different perspective for one to utilize when approaching these