Realist and Neo-Realist International Relations Essay

Realist and Neo-Realist International Relations - Essay Example The state, for Realism, is a power-maximizer in a self-help environment where no one can be trusted and violence is endemic. Non-Realist IR theory is invariably also anti-Realist. It never ignores Realism, but always incorporates a critique of that paradigm to position itself intellectually. This is because Realism is about the state. Since we cannot evade the state, which is everywhere and all around us and the centre-piece of our political cosmology, neither can IR theory evade Realism. Empirical "tests" may show that certain events in the world are (not in) consistent with the hard core of a realist research program. But that does not provide support in any strong sense of that term for choosing realism over some competing paradigm. Many events that are explained by one realist theory are also inconsistent with at least one other no less authentic realist theory. For instance, if balancing and bandwagoning exhaust the possible aligning bahaviours of states, as Waltz (1979) suggests they do, and if good realist theories predict each, as they do, then any piece of evidence simultaneously confirm and contradicts "realism". Labs provide an extreme example of the perspective when he presents offensive (rather than defensive) realism as "the best realist theory available to go forward and do battle with competing approaches to international relations" (1997, p. 48). Neither, however, will get realist very far in such a battle. Sovereignty is the primary concept of realism. It is taken as given that states enjoy unchallenged jurisdiction within their own boundaries. Realists make little attempt to theorize the impact a state's relationship with its civil society has upon its relations with other states. Waltz expresses this simplistic view when he writes that 'students of international politics will do well to concentrate on separate theories of internal and external politics until someone figures out a way to unite them (Rosenberg 1994, p. 5). Waltz is able to argue this because of his view of how the states sys operates. Waltz (1979) rejects explanations of international conflict which stress flaws in human nature. Rather it is the structure of the international system that creates tension between states: in the absence of a higher authority, states compete with each other to ensure their security. This may trigger an arms race, perhaps leading to full-scale war. This structure will determine a state's fo reign policy, regardless of its internal political arrangements or the nature of the dominant belief system within civil society. The strength of realism is that it highlights the irrationalities that underpin the login of a world divided into states. The conflicts between states, which are well documented by history, and which often transcend apparent commonalities of 'race' or ideology, present compelling evidence in support of the realist argument. It is increasingly clear, however, the realism's assumptions are inadequate to the task of explaining the nature of contemporary world politics. The problems of mainstream international relations theory lie mainly in its understanding of state sovereignty and security. Realists and non-realists are tuned to account for different dimensions of international relations. As realist theories are especially well-suited to explain certain

Compare and contrasts the effect of terrorism on global events Dissertation

Compare and contrasts the effect of terrorism on global events - Dissertation Example Secondary research method was more appropriate because it provided sufficient historical data for comparison purposes. The hosting of the global event in these two cities corresponds to two critical periods in the history of terrorism. During the hosting of Olympic Games in Barcelona, there had been no major terror attack on global events for two decades, since 1972 attacks in Munich Olympic Games. However, prior to the hosting of Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, terrorists had bombed similar global event in Atlanta, United States in 1996. One year after Sidney hosted the games, September 11 terror attacks in New York occurred. 5. Discussions and research findings Global events are important components of tourism, an industry that is very vulnerable to terrorism and insecurity. Currently tourism is one of the most important economic activities in the world besides telecommunication and information technology. The importance of hosting global events is evidenced by the stiff competiti on the many countries wishing to host events face to secure the hosting rights. Some of the most popular global events include the Olympics and FIFA world cup among others. The large audience that the global events attract make them susceptible to various threats, including violence from the fans, terrorism and natural disasters. From the 1990s, terrorism has been the one of the major concerns for the events organizers and the sports managers. The 1972 terror attacks that targeted Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics and the pipe bomb that exploded in1996 during summer Olympics in Atlanta are just of some of the few attacks targeting global events. Since then, other global events have been targeted by terrorism including International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments in Asia, especially in Pakistan, UEFA champions league matches in Barcelona and the recent attacks in Kampala Uganda that targeted fans watching the finals of 2010 world cup finals in South Africa (Clark and Sophia 2008). Several research studies have been undertaken to investigate terrorism on global events, and one of the common findings is the insufficiency of security personnel training at venues in relation to those guarding against terror attacks. However, Appelbaum, et al (2005), argued that the unpredictable nature of terrorism and the conduct of attending fans present formidable difficulties in ensuring a secure environment at the venues. Therefore, it is imperative to enforce appropriate preparations, response and recovery measures to mitigate the effects of terrorism to the global events. There are various definitions of terrorism and Christopher (2000, p 52) defines it as â€Å"the illegal use of force or violence against people or property to threaten or coerce a government, the civilian population or any targeted sector in advancement of political or social objectives†. Terror attacks targeting global events and other civilian installations are normally well planned and or ganized. According to Christopher (2000), the objectives of terror attacks targeting areas with large number of people such as global events include inflicting the greatest amount of humiliation to the target and securing maximum publicity of the terrorist cause to the largest number of people in the world as possible. Moreover, terrorists who successfully launch attacks on the targeted areas mainly intend to gain credit or respect, compel the targeted population into agreement with