Realist Security: The State, Anarchy and Power Week 3 - 11 October - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Realist Security: The State, Anarchy and Power

PSI 330 International Security

Week 3 - 11 October 2017

Realist House

Classical Realism Neorealism Defensive Realism Offensive Realism Rise and Fall Realism Neoclassical Realism

Common Features

• Focus on three factors: Power, Fear and Anarchy
• Seek to explain conflict and war.
• Pessimistic view of the social world.
• Search for power mainly determines the state behavior
• Main Questions:
• What is Security?
• Whose Security?
• What are the Primary Threats?
• How can Security be Achieved?

Classical Realism

• Search for more power is due to flaws in human nature
• Anarchic international system permits search for more power
• Characteristics of rulers or the nature of domestic politics causes war
• States are rational actors (cost & benefit analysis)

Neorealism

• Defining a political structure
• An Ordering Principle: Anarchic or Hierarchical
• The Character of Units: functionally alike or differentiated
• The Distribution of Power
• International Structure
• First two elements are constant
• Variety in capabilities
• Differences in capabilities and distribution of power determines the

nature of the international structure: bipolar or multipolar

Neorealism

• Determinants of State Behavior
• The only factor is that states seek survival
• Indifference to rationality
• Several factors can explain state behavior
• Competition among states
• Product of socialization, states can follow the norms
• Stability and interdependence in the International System
• Bipolar: high stability, low interdependence
• Multipolar: low stability, high interdependence
• Unipolar: nearly impossible

Defensive Structural Realism

• Assumption of Rational Choice
• Offense-Defense Balance
• Defense often wins, because of the improvements in weapons

technology and/or geography.

• Balance of Threat (variant)
• States Should Support Status Quo
• Why does War Occur?
• Domestic-level factors
• Extreme Security Dilemma makes states revisionist

Security Dilemma

State A increases military capabilities Other states take action to protect the status quo State A is threatened by others’ actions, increases its military capabilities furthermore. Other states respond in kind.

Security Dilemma

• Various Definitions:
• “by initially trying to enhance its own security, State A sets in motion a

process that results ironically in its feelings less secure” (Viotti and Kauppi 1987, 603)

• “what one does to enhance one’s own security causes relations that, in

the end, can make one less secure” (Posen 1993, 28)

• “The core argument of the security dilemma is that, in the absence of a

supranational authority that can enforce binding agreements, many steps pursued by states to bolster their security have the effect - often unintended and unforeseen - of making other states less secure” (Jervis 2001, 36)

Security Dilemma

• Booth & Wheeler (2008, 4-5) definition:

State A increases military capabilities The Dilemma of Interpretation The Dilemma of Response Defensive or self- protection Offensive React in kind Signal Reassurance State B

Offensive Structural Realism

• States should acquire as much power as they could
• Uncertain international environment
• Offensive capabilities can hurt
• Countervailing response is not necessarily triggered
• Most powerful state (the ultimate safety)
• Regional hegemon (the second best option)
• If everything else fails, at least try to become wealthy and have military

capabilities for the land warfare.

Offensive Structural Realism

• Various tools for Gaining Resources
• States resort war
• Blackmail
• Baiting states into making war on each other while standing aside
• Engaging competitors in long and costly conflicts
• Forestall Others From Gaining More Power
• Using third party to cope with the threat (buck-pass)
• Balance the threat by themselves
• Geography Matters
• Likelihood of Great Power War

Bipolar Multipolar

Rise and Fall Realism

• Leading Power Shapes the International System
• Determines the rules and practices
• Acts rationally to prevent contenders
• If fails, challenger could opt for war
• Rise and Fall have never changed
• Changes in power always leads to conflict
• Power Transition Theory
• Three stages of power
• Potential Power
• Transitional Growth
• Power Maturity

Neoclassical Realism

• Balance of Interest Theory (Schweller 1994, 100)

Neoclassical Realism

• Underbalancing (Schweller 2004)

For incoherent states

US Grand Strategy

Pull Back or Lean Forward