Liberalism And Realism: Two Key Theories Of International Relations

Q: IS LIBERALISM A FORM OF REALISM?

Liberalism and realism are the two key theories of international relations. Realism is the first school of thought in international relations. The tradition of realism is traced back to the history of Thucydides in 5th century. The concept of realism originated all the way back from Peloponnesian war (between Athenians and Spartans around 420 BC). After Second World War, realism emerged as accepted wisdom in international relations because of the clear lessons that war appeared to reiterate. Whereas Liberalism stands for state’s internal political strength as the key factor for its foreign policy. Liberalism fully exploded as a comprehensive movement against the old order during the French Revolution, which

When this political motive was implied to an economic, caused primarily by accumulated war debts following the eight year war with Iran, the annexation of Kuwait seemed to be a solution of Iraq’s problems. The Iraqi president Saddam Hussein also assumed that the west would not use force to defend Kuwait, a miscalculation fuelled by memory of support the west had given Iraq during Iran- Iraq war. The invasion of Kuwait on 2 august 1990 led to a series of UN resolutions calling for Iraq to withdraw unconditionally. Economic sanctions were applied while the US led coalitions of international forces gathered in Saudi Arabia. Operation “desert storm” crushed the Iraqi resistance in a matter of six weeks. The 1990 gulf war had revived the UN doctrine of collective security, although a number of doubts remained about the under lying motivations for the war and the way in which it was fought. President George h. bush declared that the war was more than one small country. It was a big idea in order to settle disputes and maintain peace. In the gulf war both combination of realistic and liberal approaches can be seen. The US political strategies based on realistic and liberal approaches are evident in this event as well.

The events of Korean War, Truman doctrine, Marshal Plan, Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam War, thaw in Sino-US relation and Afghan war were purely aiding realist However ,some of the popular events including Demise of USSR with absence of US-USSR intense competition, West European Integration into single entity(European Community),wave of democratization around the world chiefly in Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, least risks of war between great powers weakened realism’s spirit in the field of International