Chapter 3: Classical Realism By Richard Ned Lebow

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Chapter 3 Classical RealismBy Richard Ned Lebow
International Relations Theories Discipline and
Diversity
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Learning objectives

• After this lecture you should be able to
• Appreciate the key principles and themes of
  classical realism
• Understand the main differences between
  classical realism and neorealism
• Apply classical realist themes to
  contemporary world politics

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Problems of neorealism

• Classical realism considers neorealism a parody
  of science it is overly parsimonious,
  unfalsifiable and does not adequately theorise
  key concepts such as polarity and power
• The decline of neorealism since the end of the
  Cold War has resulted in renewed interest in
  classical realist thinkers.

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Key classical realists

• Key classical realists include
• Thucydides, Machiavelli, Von Clausewitz,
  Morgenthau
• They have been interested in questions of order,
  justice and change across 2500 years
• They tend to
• advocate holistic understanding of politics
• recognise the close relationship of domestic and
  international
• acknowledge the role of ethics and community
• regard history as cyclical

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Domestic and international

• Classical realists do not make a strong
  distinction between domestic politics and the
  anarchical realm of world politics
• They see the cohesiveness of community and shared
  norms as central in maintenance of order and
  restraint in international relations as in
  domestic politics

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Balance of power

• Classical realists appreciate the importance of
  balance of power in international relations.
  However, they do not see it as an effective
  deterrent of war but rather as a potential cause
  of conflict
• Order ultimately rests on strength of community
  for classical realists.
• For example, for Morgenthau it was norms of
  international society rather than the
  distribution of capabilities that maintained the
  effectiveness of balance of power in Europe
  during the 18th and 19th centuries

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Interests and justice

• Neorealists emphasise interests as the priority
  of state goals. Classical realists emphasise
  justice as the foundation of community and order
• For classical realists justice is important for
  two reasons
• 1) Because it is the key to influence
• 2) Because it provides the basis on which actors
  construct their interests

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Change and modernisation

• For classical realists, change is associated with
  modernisation, which brings about shifts in
  identities and discourses, and hence conceptions
  of security
• In restoring order both Thucydides and Morgenthau
  looked for a combination of old and new to
  accommodate changes while limiting their
  destructive potential

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Theory

• Classical realists conception of theory is
  distinct from contemporary realism
• Thucydides emphasised the context dependence of
  foreign policy actions
• Morgenthau also denied general laws and
  predictions

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Case study Iraq

• Iraq war can be seen from a classical realist
  perspective as a tragedy in the Greek sense
• At the end of the Cold War US moved towards
  unilateralism. Intoxication with power led the
  Bush Administration to hubris
• This can be seen in the case of Iraq the
  operation in Iraq was poorly prepared and relied
  on hope more than reason
• The failure of the Iraq operation reminds us that
  great powers are their own worst enemy

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Conclusion

• The notion of tragedy captures the contradiction
  between the ability of man and his propensity to
  destroy with violence what has been achieved
• Classical realists were pessimistic of the
  ability of the powerful to exercise
  self-restraint but a key theme of classical
  realism is that it offers prudence as an antidote
  to hubris