A Conceptual Analysis Of Realism In International Between The 16th And 18th Century

Realism has been a major player in international politics. Unlike liberalism, realism stresses the fact that nation states are concerned with their own security and their own interests. Liberalism was founded on the idea of equality. Relativists tend to neglect ethical decision making in regards to conflicts among other states. Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes are the true founders of the realism theory.
The evolutions of realism began with Thucydides and his theories for the Peloponnesian War. Based on the idea of realism, wars were started to achieve monetary gains. Countries were more likely to take control of other countries due to the potential for them to increase their wealth. In the article “A Conceptual Analysis of Realism in International
Mercantilists had a similar way of thinking, as they believed that states would increase their security by expanding their military power. Part of the mercantilism strategy was to create a trade surplus. An example of this occurred with the British Empire experiencing a severe trade deficit with China with the imports of items like silk, tea, and porcelain. The British were allowing so much of their resources go to China. Alexander Hamilton was a big supporter of mercantilism. Hamilton supported the infant industry argument, which means that new industries should be restricted from competing through trade until they are ready to compete globally. In the same article quoted above, Kat includes an excerpt from Alexander Hamilton arguing his claim to protect infant industries. Hamilton states “Not only the wealth; but the independence and security of a country, appear to be materially connected with the prosperity of manufacturers” (qtd. in Kat). Hamilton was a proponent of industrialization, as he though it was important to sustain a competitive advantage and be less vulnerable to attacks. He also believed that being dependent in a different country’s imports would weaken its power. An example of this occurred in Germany after the Industrial Revolution. Germany was dependent on British imports, thus they had to take protective measures to facilitate their own economic growth. The
This theory argues that an international system has a greater chance to become stable when there’s a single nation-state becoming the dominant power. The text book mentions the fact of hegemons being organized as multipolar, bipolar, or unipolar systems. This system focused on free trade to gain power over others. After World War Two the World Trade Organization was formed to set up a global economic system. Hegemonic power can be expressed with Russia’s actions with Ukraine. Ukraine faced economic sanctions from western powers. In the same article cited above, author Mazhid Kat describes the harmful effects of a nation being cut off economically. Kat emphasizes that its affects can be worse than war by stating, “The politicization of economic relations is inevitable in the world when military means are ineffective because they are capable of producing greater global instability. However, economic tools of foreign policy are not necessarily more moral than military ones” (Kat). A country or nation can have a difficult time functioning properly if they are cut off from the world economically. Economic sanctions don’t allow countries to participate in the production of goods that they have a competitive advantage