In the previous blog, I presented the introduction
of Realism. Realism is actually a spectrum of ideas or theories, As there are
various threads of Realism, one of them is Classical Realism,
Classical Realism explains
power politics in terms of Egoism, all the threads of realism agree on that at
the international level there is lawlessness, so there is power politics in which every
state is indulged, as being powerful is the only way to survive in this lawless
world. Classical Realists explains this power politics in terms of Egoism, by
this they mean that as individuals are egoistic in nature, in a similar way states
are egoistic in nature, its their genetic character.
Classical Realism it is a form
of realism that explains power politics largely in terms of Human Selfishness
or Egoism. The classical realists lineage begins with Thucydides representation
of power politics as a law of human behavior. The drive for power and the will
to dominate are held to be fundamental aspect of human nature. The behavior of
the state as a self-seeking egoistic is understood to be merely a reflection of
the characteristics of the people that comprise the state. It is human nature
that explains why international politics is necessarily power politics.
Classical realists argue that it is from the nature of man that the essential
features of international politics, such as competition, fear, and war can be
explained. Morgenthau nates that politics like the society in general is governed
by objective laws that have roots in human nature. For both Thucydides and
Morgenthau, the essential continuity of the power-seeking behavior of the state
is rooted in the biological drives of human beings.
Another characteristics of classical realism is its
adherents belief in the primordial character of power and ethics. Classical
realism is fundamentally about the struggle for belonging a struggle that is
often violent. Patriotic virtue is required in order for communities to serve
in this historic battle between good and evil, a virtue that long predates the
emergence of sovereignty based notions of community in the mid-seventeenth
century. Classical realists therefore differ from contemporary realists in the
sense that engaged with moral philosophy and sought to reconstruct an
understanding of virtue in light of practice and historical circumstances.
Classical
realism became more fashionable during the inter-war period. The two world wars
triggered some eminent scholars of IR to draw an analogy form Peloponnesian War
to understand the current flux in International Politics, One of them is Hans J
Morgenthau, Morgenthau in his famous book “ Politics Among Nations” has developed
Realists theory in the form of Six principles of Political Realism, these are;-
--Objective of laws of human nature.
--Interest in terms of power politics.
--Interests
are dynamic.
--Universal moral principles inapplicable.
--Moral aspirations of nation.
--The autonomy of political sphere.
International politics according to Thucydides and
Morgenthau is struggle for power. Both of these scholars believe that power-seeking
behavior of states is rooted in the ‘biological drives of human nature’. Furthermore,
some key elements of classical realism are being drawn from the thought of
Machiavelli`s work The Prince. The Prince advises the statesman to concentrate
on power and pay due attention to war in order to survive in the anarchial
world. Machiavelli gave concept of dual morality- individual morality and state
morality. He argued that state morality is different to individual morality. He
advises prince that using immoral actions are justified for the security of
state. In other words Machiavelli justified the cruel nature of state and its
immoral actions. Therefore, both Machiavelli and Thucydides believe that
International Politics morality has different meaning. The paramount question
to every state should be its security and survival not any moral reasoning.