CRITIQUES OF REALISM: GROTIANS & MARXISTS
I. Challenging realism's core assumptions
A) Anarchy
* Anarchy mitigated: norms, institutns., intl. law
B) Maximize power
* What is power?
Military: troops, guns, nuclear weapons
Economic: technology,
Cultural: education, media
Nye: Hard (carrots & sticks) vs. soft (appeal of ideas)
In an information age, soft power may be more impt.
C) State-centric (sovereignty)
*Non-state actors
International organizations (IOs)
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
Multinational corporations (MNCs)
D) States: rational, unitary (analogous to firms)
* States not unitary or rational
Domestic actors: agencies, parties, int. groups, indivs
* Rationality? It is culturally specific.
Realist policy prescriptions (paradigms shape our responses)
-- Distribution of power predicts broad patterns of behavior
A. Realpolitik: power balancing (bipolar or multipolar)
or follow-the-leader (hegemonic)
B. Focus on "high politics": traditional security issues
C. Act w/ prudence (not ethics)
II. Grotians/Interdependence (Bull)
Hugo Grotius=17th C. Dutch, father of intl. law
A. Anarchy mitigated; states exist in society
Norms, institutions, intl. law comprise social web
B. Interdependence >> relationships are costly to break
1. Sensitivity to other sts. policies
EX: Mexican currency devaluation >> migration to U.S.
2. Vulnerability
EX: OPEC oil price increases; Chernobyl
C. Emphasis is trade & intl. law: harmony of interests
1. Realists skeptical of intl. law
But states do accept intl. law, & almost always obey it.
Intl law is not violated more often, or to a higher
degree, than the law of other systems.
2. Treaties: arms control, functional cooperation
(commerce, communications, transportation, environment,
health, human rights)
**In this modern age of satellite communications, worldwide
transportation, & global economic & ecological interdependence,
intl. law has become indispensable.
D. State-centric (like realism, unlike the cosmopolitan &
post-internationalist models)
E. Implies mutuality, unlike Marxist models, but not equality
1. Power tied to asymmetrical vulnerability
*TASK: Groups of 4, 2 realists & 2 Grotians. Imagine you are U.S. arms
control negotiators in charge of talks with Russia on nuclear
weapons & conventional arms. How do the positions of the realists
& the Grotians differ? 5 minutes
III. Marxism & Dependency Theory
A. Economic focus
1. Like realism, power is central but = wealth
B. Classes (not states) are primary actors
C. System is not anarchic, but hierarchically structured:
core & periphery
D. Unlike realism, concern is with DCs, not great powers
E. Unlike Grotian model, there is an extreme power imbalance:
emphasizes legacy of colonialism
Interdependence implies mutuality; dependence implies inequity
F. Explaining underdevelopment
End of WW2, Latin America seemed on verge of self-sustaining
growth. Why did this not happen?
1. Depletion of capital
Capital cannot sustain itself domestically, must borrow
to produce goods; debt payments reduce accumulation of
surplus >> vicious circle
2. Rooted in colonialism
a. Enclave economies
Colonies exploited for raw materials; virtually no
industry located in colonies; land used for export
crops; railroads went straight from mines to ports.
3. Incoherent borders >> weak states, ethnic divisions
4. Neocolonialism: capitalism's demand for cheap primary
resources, low-wage labor, investment opportunities, &
external markets
* Show cartoon
a. Dependency maintained by structuring intl. economic
institutions to benefit the North; by coopting and
corrupting local elites
>> huge disparities between DC bourgeoisie & poor
G. Cultural imperialism as outgrowth of neocolonialism
1. Jihad vs. McWorld
* Show Pepsi photo
H. Policy prescriptions
1. Redistribute wealth
a. Land reform (cuts urbanization, hunger)
b. People-centered development projects
c. Restructure intl. institutions: IMF, World Bank, GATT
2. Ethics are relevant: justice
TASK: Is Marxism dead? Think of at least 1 current intl. issue where
a Marxist analysis makes sense. How might a Grotian or a realist
interpret this issue?
