Poli Sci 2531 W5

Week 5 Realist and Liberterian Approaches ● 1. The Realist approach ○ George Bush Sr ○ John J Mearsheimer ○ Stephen M. Walt ○ Centrist approach to foreign policy ○ Supported by: ■ Moderate democrats and republicans ■ Right (blue liberal) side of the liberal party ■ Red tory (moderate) side of the conservative party ○ In republican party, realists lost influence to neocons and then populists ○ Supports ■ Military spending for deterrence not intervention ■ Restrained foreign policy focused on vital interests only ■ Emphasis on security interests over values and economics ■ Contain and deter, rather than change, enemies ○ Traced back to early realists and their focus on realpolitik ■ Thucydides’ the history of peloponnesian war between athens and sparta ■ Machiavelli’s the prince on statecraft ○ Idea that international politics was about survival ○ Thus, foreign policy had to focus on security and be amoral ○ Also traced back to early mercantilists such as Friedrichs list’s 1840 national system of political economy ■ Economics must support national power and culture ■ Free trade benefits powerful ■ Others should use protectionism to promote industrialization and a favourable balance of trade ■ Conceiving trade in relative gains instead of absolute gains ○ Emerged as a formal approach in academia around WW2 ○ Classical realists critique of wilsonian idealism and the league of nations ■ E.H. Carr’s 1939 “The twenty year crisis” ■ Hans Morganthau’s 1948 “politics among nations” ○ During the cold war, realism was the dominant approach to US foreign policy ○ Nuclear deterrence based on second strike capability and mutually assured destruction (MAD) ○ Also NATO alliance to deter Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact ○ Strategic Triad ■ 3 ways of launching Nuclear weapons ● Bomber launched ● Missile launch ● Submarines ○ Realist approach also promoted containment of communism (not rollback) ○ Based on domino theory of how communism would spread country to country ○ Thus had to stop its spread everywhere ○ Containment included:

○ Support for allies ■ Marshall Plan to build europe ■ US forces in Europe ○ Proxy wars to stop communism from spreading ■ Using another country to fight for you ● Korea ● Vietnam ○ Containment included: ○ Support for friendly dictators and fighters e.g.: ■ Cia coup in Iran ■ Pinochet in Chile ■ Contras in Nicaragua ■ Mujahideen in Afghanistan ○ Cuban missile crisis to prevent nucs in Cuba ○ Realist supported the 1990 Gulf War ■ Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait ■ Threatened US oil interests ■ George Bush Sr. launches Op Desert storm - Canada Participated ■ Pushes Iraq out of Kuwait but does not overthrow Saddam Hussein as neocons wanted ○ Realists opposed the 2003 Iraq war ■ They thought the war was about neocon ideology not national interest ■ Saddam could be contained and deterred ■ Would lead to imperial overstretch ■ Would lead to insurgency and hatred of US ■ Would create instability in the middle east and empower Iran ■ others would want nucs to deter US ○ Realists are OK with nuclear proliferation ○ Believe cold war demonstrates that nuclear deterrence works ○ Iran, North Korea, etc. are rational and can be deterred ○ Is better option than war to stop them getting nucs ○ Advocates for spheres of influence and offshore balancing ○ NATO should not have expanded into Russia's sphere ○ If rivals get too powerful in their sphere, US should balance by supporting regional allies ■ E.g. China ○ Spheres of influence and offshore balancing means: ■ Restrained foreign policy that only intervene when necessary to national interest ■ Ignore conflicts outside areas of national interests ■ Do not promote values as breeds backlash ○ On economics, realists believe economic power is required for military power ○ Thus support trade when it benefits the national interest ■ Trade with dictators is fine ■ Use trade to support core allies ■ Avoid trade with rivals if it helps them too much e.g. China ○ Security trumps trade so some protectionism is fine ■ Self-sufficiency for strategic industries needed in war, for pandemics,

○ Oppose foreign aid in the same way it opposes economic redistribution at home ○ Free trade trumps values ○ Trade with dictators is fine ○ Companies can use different morality abroad ○ Oppose using sanctions to promote values ■ Mostly ok with China ○ Libertarians overlap somewhat with realists on security issues and oppose neocons ○ Advocate for restraint to limit security spending ○ Oppose national security state at home as hurts civil liberties