Realism and Idealism

1. Realism and Idealism

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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”

7. 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

8. 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”

9. Case Study: Peloponnesian War and the Melian Dialogue

10. 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

11. Delian League • 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

13. Delian 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

14. Melos’ Situation • 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

15. Melian Dialogue 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

16. Melian Dialogue • 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

17. Questions: Use specific examples and/or brief quotations from the readings to illustrate your points. Read the Melian Dialogue and respond to the following: Summarize the main Melian argument. Summarize the main Athenian argument. What reasons do the Athenians present for explaining why they are unconvinced by the Melians’ arguments? What different ideas are presented about what is just or what is right? Do the needs (or the lives) of the many always outweigh the needs (or the lives) of the few? When might they not? How good do the ends have to be to justify immoral/illegal means? Or do the ends never justify such means?