PSCI 3123 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Hegemony, Power Transition Theory
24 Feb 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
While realism says that the ultimate goal of behavior is power acquisition, neo-realism says that power acquisition is a means of obtaining survival, which is the ultimate end. Stresses that state security is of the upmost importance. The system is anarchical in the sense that there is no ultimate international authority in the system. The nature of the state itself is not important. Says that states will act the same give the same circumstances. Causes of war : the anarchic nature of the system causes war, because the system is anarchic, the state is responsible for its own survival. How do you improve survival: go to war over valuable resources and assets, the relative amount of assets determines the state"s place in the system and their will to fight. Hierarchy of states : power, wealth, and prestige matter when determining where your state falls in the hierarchy.
