Is Realism an Obsolete Theory, or Is It More Relevant Than Ever?

Realism, as a way of interpreting international relations has often been conceived to be closely tied to the Cold War. Realism, rooted in the experience of World War II and the Cold War, is said to be undergoing a crisis of confidence largely because the lessons adduced do not convincingly apply directly to the new realities of international relations in the twenty-first century (Clinton 2007:1) Worse still, if policymakers steadfastly adhere to realist precepts, they will have to navigate “the unchartered seas of the post-Cold War disorder with a Cold War cartography, and blind devotion to realism could compromise their ability to prescribe paths to a more orderly and just system.” (Kegley 1993:141). This paper will demonstrate that this picture of realism is incomplete – realism is not an obsolete theory in contemporary international relations, but is indeed relevant - it can be, and has been applied in the twenty-first century. In order to prove this, the work of well-known political thinkers thought to be the precursors of realism, and the writings of present-day international relations analysts will be examined, and the core tenets of realism will be extracted. It will be argued that these root concepts of realist thought do not rely on the circumstances of the Cold War, and are thus not bound by its confines, with the possibility that these lessons retain their validity in addressing issues in the post-Cold War world of international relations.
A key tenet of realist thinking is the concept of power, or more specifically, ‘hard power’ and its uses within the realm of international relations. It is the ability to make other actors comply with a state’s will through the use of force and threat (Copeland 2010). With this key tenet, comes the realist notion of an ongoing balancing of power between states. Some have gone so far as to call it “the central theoretical concept of international relations” (Snyder 1984). This realist sentiment can easily