A Framework for International Relations

Paper Summary:

This paper states that successful policy theories encompass aspects of both idealism and realism as exemplified by the Marshall Plan after World War II. The paper defines idealism as "Can't we just get along?" or cooperation through institutional mechanisms such as the United Nations. The author explains that realism, an alternative school of thought, believes that idealism fails because international conflicts were inevitable.

From the Paper:

"The Bush administration reluctantly submitted our goals of regime change to the United Nations Security Council hoping to persuade the body to approve their plan of military action if complete disarmament was achieved in a short period of time. Under the theme of U.S. national security it is argued that Iraq history of aggressive behavior towards its neighbors posses a continued threat to the world. This threat includes possessing and using weapons of mass destruction and possibly delivering these weapons into the hands of terrorist who would eventually use them against U.S. targets, either abroad or domestically.
The use of force to change a regime, without publicly acknowledged proof of an immediate threat to the sovereignty and security of the U.S. signals a move away from even the realism paradigm approach in international relations to one of hegemony driven desire to mold the world in our own image."

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