International Relations

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that the schools of liberalism and realism in terms of international relations have long been seen as warring ideologies, highly incompatible with one another. Liberalism and realism proceed from different fundamental interpretations about the international system. The paper explains, however, that both methods of international relations have as their ultimate goal the security and perpetuation of the state. The paper looks at Joseph Nye's theory of soft power versus the ideas of hard power. The paper demonstrates the threats facing the United States today and asserts that an ability to address or reduce such a threat depends upon liberalism merging with realism in order to ensure security.

From the Paper:

"In opening, a cursory evaluation of what constitutes the realist and liberal schools of thought needs to preface critiques of these systems. Realists come in many stripes, but all typically share the following assumptions. First, they believe that states are the primary actors in the international system, rational unitary actors who are functionally identical. Second, they assume that state preferences, ranging from survival to situational improvements, are fixed and unchanging. Third, they assume that the anarchic structure of the international system creates such a degree of either actual conflict or perceived uncertainty that states must constantly assume and prepare for the possibility of war (Waltz 1986). In this context, outcomes of state interactions are typically zero-sum and thus are determined by relative power. For realists, power is the currency of the international system. States interact with one another within that system like billiard balls: hard, opaque, unitary actors colliding with one another (Amin 2000)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Amin, Samir, "The Political Economy of the Twentieth Century," Monthly Review, June 2000, http://www.monthlyreview.org/600amin.htm
• Chong, Alan, "Singaporean Foreign Policy and the Asian Values Debate, 1992-2000: an experiment in soft power," The Pacific Review 17:1, 2004, pp. 95-133.
• Fukuyama, Francis, "The End of History?" National Interest 16 Summer 1989, pp. 3-18.
• Gambill, Gary, "The Balance of Terror: War by Other Means in the Middle East," Journal of Palestine Studies 28:1, 1998, pp. 51-66
• Hoffman, Bruce, "The Logic of Suicide Terrorism," The Atlantic Monthly June 2003

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