This literature review is designed to examine the justification of war, from interpretations of scholarly sources, in order to highlight important ideas and opinions. The focus for the review is a case study on the Vietnam War and the perception of this war to the realist theory. It will discuss the implications of war in terms of power and their impact on a state’s independence, while examining the elements of realism and how they reflect the events of Vietnam. There is specific attention to the balance of power (Rosato and Schuessler 2011) and how its role is concerned in the realist theory. Vietnam has been a highly controversial war and many arguments with realism do little to support the war decision. Today there continues to be conflict
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While realism was a model for the Vietnam War in America, realism alone did not instruct America to go to Vietnam, as liberalism (Rosato and Schuessler 2011) was involved as well. Although to counter this Zambernardi (2011) states it is unlikely values for liberalism have given states like America the ability to have power over other states, making it uncertain which theory has a greater responsibility in the matter. It is important to remember realism alone, aside from its appeal for power and attention to self-interest, is not the only theory based on decisions to go to war. Some of these scholarly sources have placed responsibility on realism for the Vietnam War when there are other theories incorporated in this issue and for this reason there continues to exist a debate about Vietnam due to mixed reception for war. The next steps that America can take according to Rosato and Schuessler (2011) is avoiding this mistake of establishing war and from that create a policy for their protection rather than combat. Considering the point where morals are not as widely regarded in realism, it does not mean there is no thought at all of morals in the theory (Lentner 2011). If realism were to adopt a moral attitude, although it is not a common idea for the theory, then perhaps the war decision will be taken into a more thorough consideration for the future. Morals had been part of America for some time but during the Vietnam War these morals shifted (Rafshoon 2001, 72). While the Vietnam War is still seen as a difficult topic with no definite answers, Trauschweizer (2014) outlines from Robert Komer’s perspective on the topic that with careful attention in the future, dealing with similar conflicts
While realism was a model for the Vietnam War in America, realism alone did not instruct America to go to Vietnam, as liberalism (Rosato and Schuessler 2011) was involved as well. Although to counter this Zambernardi (2011) states it is unlikely values for liberalism have given states like America the ability to have power over other states, making it uncertain which theory has a greater responsibility in the matter. It is important to remember realism alone, aside from its appeal for power and attention to self-interest, is not the only theory based on decisions to go to war. Some of these scholarly sources have placed responsibility on realism for the Vietnam War when there are other theories incorporated in this issue and for this reason there continues to exist a debate about Vietnam due to mixed reception for war. The next steps that America can take according to Rosato and Schuessler (2011) is avoiding this mistake of establishing war and from that create a policy for their protection rather than combat. Considering the point where morals are not as widely regarded in realism, it does not mean there is no thought at all of morals in the theory (Lentner 2011). If realism were to adopt a moral attitude, although it is not a common idea for the theory, then perhaps the war decision will be taken into a more thorough consideration for the future. Morals had been part of America for some time but during the Vietnam War these morals shifted (Rafshoon 2001, 72). While the Vietnam War is still seen as a difficult topic with no definite answers, Trauschweizer (2014) outlines from Robert Komer’s perspective on the topic that with careful attention in the future, dealing with similar conflicts