Choosing+your+International+Perspective

**INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES**  
 * In the international system, there are mainly __four__ different ways to interpret how it operates.
 * ** Realist **, ** Radical **, ** Liberal **, and **Constructivist **
 * Decide which one fits you best and discuss it at the bottom of this page.
 * An example of how each perspective interpreted the Iraqi War is located after each of the perspective summaries.
 * __Realism in the International System__
 * **Realism** is based on a view of the individual as primarily selfish and power seeking. Individuals are organized in states, each of which acts in a unitary way in pursuit of its own **national interest**, defined in terms of **power**.
 * States exist in an **anarchic** international system, characterized by the absence of an authoritative hierarchy.
 * States' most important concern is to manage their insecurity, and they rely primarily on **balancing the power** of other states and **deterrence** to keep the international system intact.
 * Robert Gilpin offers another interpretation of realism. Gilpin adds the notion of **dynamism**: history as a series of cycles—cycles of birth, expansion, and demise of dominant powers.
 * There are still many many sects of realist thought such as neorealism (structural realism), classical realism, defensive realism, and offensive realism. More about realism can be found here: [|Realism in International Relations]

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 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 18px;"> __Radicalism in the International System__
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Radicalism ** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> assumes the primacy of **economics** for explaining virtually all other phenomena.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The writings of **Karl Marx** (1818-83) are fundamental to all radical thought. According to Marx, **private interests control** labor and market exchanges.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> A **clash** inevitably arises between the controlling, capitalist bourgeois class and the controlled proletariat workers.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Another group of radical beliefs centers on the structure of the global system. That structure is the by-product of <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">imperialism ** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">, or the expansion of certain economic forms into other areas of the world.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">John A. Hobson theorized that expansion occurs because of three conditions:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">1) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">overproduction ** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> of goods and services in developed countries; 2) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">underconsumption ** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> by workers and the lower classes in developed nations because of low wages; 3) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">oversavings ** <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> by the upper classes and the bourgeoisie in the dominant developed countries.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">To solve these problems, developed states have expanded abroad, and radicals argue that developing countries are increasingly **constrained** and **dependent** on the actions of the developed world.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Virtually all radical theorists are uniformly normative in their orientation. They evaluate the hierarchical **capitalist structure** as "bad," its methods exploitive. More information about Radicalism can be found here: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px;"> [|Dependency Theory]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">__Liberalsim in the International System__
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Liberalism ** <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> holds that human nature is basically good and that people can improve their moral and material conditions, making <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">societal progress ** <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> possible. Bad or evil behavior are the products of inadequate social institutions and misunderstandings among leaders.
 * Liberalism in International relations is __not__ to be affiliated with the Democratic Party. They are very different.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">The origin of liberal theory is found in **Enlightenment optimism**:
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This liberalism saw man as capable of satisfying his natural needs and wants in **rational** ways.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Individual **freedom** and **autonomy** can best be realized in a **democratic** states unfettered by excessive governmental restrictions.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">**Free markets** must be allowed to flourish and governments must permit the free flow of trade and commerce. This will create interdependencies between states, thus raising the cost of war.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Twenty-century idealism is also termed " <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Wilsonian idealism ** <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">" (its greatest adherent was Woodrow Wilson, author of the League of Nations). Although the League of Nations does not exist today, it led way to the formation of the **U.N.** with many of the same principles.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">**War is preventable**; more than half of the League covenant's provisions focused on preventing war.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">The covenant also included a provision legitimizing the notion of <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">collective security ** <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">, wherein aggression by one state would be countered by collective action, embodied in a "league of nations."
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Liberals also place faith in international law and legal instruments -mediation, arbitration, and international courts.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">As seen in the [|Prisoner's Dilemma], **cooperation** between states is in each of their best interests.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">The basis of liberalism remains firmly embedded in the belief of the rationality of humans and in the unbridled optimism that through learning and **education**, humans can develop institutions to bring out their best characteristics. More information about Liberalism in the International System can be found here: [|Liberalism in International Relations]
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 156%;">__Constructivism in the International System__
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The major theoretical proposition that all <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">constructivists ** <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> subscribe to is that state behavior is shaped by elite beliefs, identities, and **social norms**. This belief is much less common than the ones listed above.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Constructivists put the emphasis mainly on the **Individual** rather than the state of international system.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Individuals in collectivities forge, shape, and change culture through ideas and practices. State and national interests are the result of the **social identities** of these actors.
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Constructivists claim there is no objective reality, if "the world is in the eye of the beholder," then there can be **no right or wrong** answers, only **individual perspectives**. Thus, they see sovereignty not as an absolute, but as a contested concept. More information about constructivism in International Relations can be found here: [|Constructivism in International Relations]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 169%;">__ Looking at the 2003 War in Iraq __
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**__ Realist __ interpretation: **
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Realists would focus on <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**state-level** // <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> and <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">i**nternational-level** // <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">factors. Realists see the <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">international system // <span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> as anarchic and few states other than the U.S. would be able and willing to rid the world of the Iraq threat.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Iraq posed a **security threat** to the U.S. and the only way to eliminate this threat was to oust the Baathist regime from power.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Not all realists agree that the policy the U.S. pursued was the right one: both John Mearsheimer, an offensive realist, and Stephen Walt, a defensive realist, have jointly argued that the war was not necessary.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #800080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**George W. Bush** and other realist theorists believe that Saddam was not being effectively deterred. Bush argued that Saddam's use of chemical weapons against the Kurds in the past meant that it was probable he would use them to threaten the U.S.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The **<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">__Radical__ **<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> interpretation:
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">Radicals would focus mainly on the <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**international-level** // <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Political colonialism spawned an imperialist system in which the economic needs of the capitalist states were paramount. In the Middle East, that meant **imperialism** by the West to secure **oil** resources.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The instability of the oil supply coming from Iraq explains the U.S. invasion. Many radicals believe the U.S. wants to control Iraq's oil, pointing to the fact that U.S. troops protected oil fields all over the country.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">World-system and dependency theorists would not be surprised at all that the core states of the **capitalist** system—the U.S. and its allies—responded with force with Iraq threatened their **critical interests** in oil.
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The **__Liberal__** interpretation:
 * <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Liberals would utilize all three levels of analysis.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**Individual level**: // <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> Saddam was clearly an **abusive** leader and committed atrocities against his own population
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**State level**: // <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> The Iraqi state had an **authoritarian** nature, and replacement by a democracy would lessen the coercive threat of the state and enhance stability in the Middle East
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">**International level**: // <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;"> Iraq was not confronting to its obligations under various **U.N.** Security Council resolutions; thus there was an **obligation** for the international community to take collective action.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #008000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">The international community did not respond as some liberals would have predicted because the U.N. Security Council did not endorse the action, and there was insufficient evidence for the presence of weapons of mass destruction.

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: right;"> -Kevin Anglim <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

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