The Key Differences Between Realists, Morality of State...

Introduction: George Kennan says, â€Å"Morality in governmental method, as a matter of conscience and preference on the part of our people – yes.† He goes on to say that morality as a criterion for measuring and comparing the behavior of states is flawed. Morality is a preference, not a requirement to govern in the international anarchic system, Kennan argues. Ethics and justice in the international system are measured by how states satisfy varying moral requirements. These moral requirements are defined by a variety of schools of thought, including: Realists, Morality of States theorists, and Cosmopolitans. Realists may validate some action where morality of state theorists and cosmopolitans are fundamentally opposed. In this paper I will†¦show more content†¦Instead, realists hold that there is some basic idea about nature and requirements of morality, or moral intuitions that guide us (Beitz, 17). Even among realists, there are some with more extreme positions about mor ality and ethics in international relations. Machiavelli argues that morality can be broken when necessary in order to maintain the state, or perhaps even expand the state. To this end, the prince should be amoral and self-aggrandizing (Beitz, 21). Machiavelli is not justifying unwarranted cruelty, â€Å"The prince should not deviate from what is good, if possible, but be able to do evil if constrained† (Beitz, 21). Rulers are permitted to break the shared idea of morality when they are doing so in order to protect the state from intrusion or vulnerability in international relations. Machiavelli posits perhaps the most rigid realists perspective on international relations. The basic notion is that governments and individuals that have different moral responsibilities and individual responsibilities value morality much more than the state. Kennan breaks moral responsibility down to two entities: government and individual. He argues, â€Å"Government is an agent, not a principal. Its primary obligation is to the interests of the national society it represents, not to the moral impulses that individual elements of that society may experience† (Kennan, 34). Kennan also argues that morality is only conceptually possibleShow MoreRelatedContemporary Mainstream Approaches : Neo Realism And Neo Liberalism1527 Words   |  7 Pagestheories and their respective differences. Although Realism and Neo-realism are close in name, they aren’t that close in ideologies. Both theories differ on their definitions of power and anarchy along with their respective model structures of the international system. Two neo-realist branches study security strategies; these branches are offensive and defensive realism. Offensive realists often agree with the traditional realist ideologies, while defensive realist, often confused with their neo-liberalistRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesD421.E77 2010 909.82—dc22 2009052961 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992 Printed in the United States of America 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 C ONTENTS Introduction Michael Adas 1 1 World Migration in the Long Twentieth Century †¢ Jose C. Moya and Adam McKeown 9 †¢ 2 Twentieth-Century Urbanization: In Search of an Urban Paradigm for