User:LBird BASc/sandbox/ATK/Seminar6/Power/Power in International Relations

Power in International Relations

Power is a concept which affects a multitude of disciplines. One of the most common perceptions of power is found in world politics and International Relations, since it affects the way states interact and why wars happen. Power will be looked at through three main perspectives in International Relations: realism, liberalism and constructivism.

Realism

The power distribution across countries.

The realist stream of thought perceives the state behaviour is reflective of human nature, which is inherently power-seeking and centered around increasing security. Thus, states will act competitively and aggressively towards each other in the anarchical structure of the world arena. This viewpoint became popular after the events of the First and Second World Wars. Neorealism follows the same logic of self-help, however it puts more emphasis on the anarchical structure of the world, which directly causes this type of state behaviour. Finally, according to neorealism states will always seek to become the hegemon (have the maximum power) or at least reach a balance of power. For realists, power is defined mainly by military strength, wealth and population size.

Liberalism

The liberalist perspective is much more positive about state relations and power. Liberals can be considered idealist due to their hopeful view of the world and cooperation between countries and institutions. From this point of view, democratic states are the most powerful, especially since cooperation between democracies is more likely to occur leading to collective security and free economic trade. An example is the European Union. Furthermore, an emphasis on globalisation shows how all countries are interconnected and therefore power can be spread more equally, whilst the liberalisation of countries will lead to peace since they would not seek more power due to their wealth.

Constructivism

Constructivism looks at the influence of ideas, social norms and context, analysing the relationship between agent and structure. From this perspective, the idea of power is much more fluid, which can be changed and altered as time goes by. Therefore, our changing definition of what power means will affect the way states interact, and in turn the context will also affect our definition of power and behaviour. Therefore, social constructions play a crucial role in defining power, which will affect the way countries interact.

See also

Realism (international relations)