Difference Between Realism And Neorealism

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II.Theory and argument II.I Realism Realism and realist theory lay primary focus on anarchy, power and fear and try to explain conflicts and why war occur. There are several different realistic approaches that you have in security studies. They are classical realism, neorealism and defensive structural realism and offensive structural realism who is developed from neorealism, and you have neoclassical realism. Although there are different realistic approaches they all have same view that relations between states has not changed. That states behavior is driven by their leaders or by unpleasant mandate by an anarchical international system. Because humans are often selfish, their desire for power, and seek for security and to be secure, that …show more content…

According to Morgenthau are states leaders motivated by their desire for power and that is an explanation why they act aggressively. On the other hand Waltz skips the leaders motivations and how states are or how states should be characterized for international outcomes, except that states seek to survive in his mind (Williams, Paul D., 2013, 18). According to Waltz are there two important structural attributes of a state system. It can be said that most of all state system are more likely to have anarchic structures, rather than heirarchical structures. Another is that differences among anarchic systems can be traced to differences in the allocation of power within them (Wagner, R. Harrison, 2007, 17). Conflicts among states become primary from the two factors which are linked to anarchy. First is that anarchic states have to provide their own security. Second is that relations between states are often through high tense. It can be said that in an anarchic system, there can comfort of one state, worrying another. Some states are only thinking about power, but it does not always have to mean (Kenneth N., Waltz, …show more content…

Offensive realism or offensive neorealism has received a lot of attention and its main innovators is John Mearsheimer. According to the offensive realism, states act aggressively because they want to be secure, it is system that makes them to do so. States often have no reason to go in conflict with each other, they are primarily thinking about themselves. Mearsheimer have listed five assumption of international politics that supports his opinion. First of all he argued that there is no government, all states are capable to use their own force and force against other, no one state can be sure that another state would not use force to fight against, all states seek primary to keep their own territorial integrity and states are often rational actors. There are not all realist who accept Mearsheimer´s five assumption. According to Waltz, it is the nature of international politics that foreces states to focus on their own independance and that can they do by forming coalitions (Wagner, R. Harrison, 2007,

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