POL 208 Chapter Notes -Neoclassical Realism, Offensive Realism, Defensive Realism
16 Apr 2014
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Document Summary
Realism has been the dominant theory of world politics sice the beginning of academic international relations. Outside the academy, realism has much longer history in the work of classical political theorists such as thucydides, machiavelli, hobbes, and rousseau. The unifying theme around which all realist thinking converges is that states find themselves in the shadow of anarchy such that their security cannot be taken for granted. At the start of the new millennium, realism continues to attract academicians and inform policy- makers, although in the period since the end of the cold we have seen heightened criticism of realist assumptions. There is a lack of consensus in the literature as to whether we can meaningfully speak about realism as a single coherent theory. There are good reasons for delineating different types of realism. Structural realism divides into 2 camps: those who argue that states are security maximizers (defensive realism), and those who argue that states are power maximizers (offensive realism)
