Morality is Alien to Political Realism
Some realists reject assigning morality
to war arguing that any attempt to impose a moral solution is tragic. It is
important to note here that this skepticism of realists towards morality goes
beyond war to cover the whole international relations spectrum. Indeed the
classical works by both Hans Morgenthau (1948) and Kenneth Waltz (1979) confirm the realist’s skepticism to
morality. The major problem with morality for realists partly stems from their reservation
about political “utopinianism.”
Realism claims to be placing its
emphasis on the acceptance of facts and on the analysis of their causes and
consequences. This is a theory, which dwells so much on power struggle to the
extent that it is referred to as the ‘power theory.’ Realists argue that the
world system is anarchic, where the “winner takes it all,” and that in such a
system none is safe since every political actor is a potential enemy. This
theory is based on the deterministic human behavior, a school of thought that
believes in inertness of the aggressive nature of man. The realists further,
argue that there is need for the accumulation of power in order to ensure world
peace. The justification is that when an actor becomes militarily powerful it
will deter others from attacking it and if all are perceived to be as powerful
then no one attacks the other hence peace. This filament of thought is
discernible throughout the history of nations, especially so during the so
called arms race of the Cold War era.
From such a background, we see that
realism paints the world as an actual battlefield, a jungle where laws, morality
and liberal principles have no place. International peace for realists can only
be assured through the balance of power. What matters is the successful defense
of oneself against the aggressor. This defense, to the realists, must be done
through preponderance of power. There is
no trace of morality at the heart of political realism.
Morality is Alien to Political Realism
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
March 14, 2017
Rating:
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