Tesi sul tema "Mearsheimer"

Critics and proponents of realism unanimously proclaim that fear is conceptually, theoretically and logically essential to the realist school of thought. In this dissertation, these propositions are tested by examining the importance of this primary emotion in the classical realism of Hans Morgenthau, the defensive realism of Kenneth Waltz and the offensive realism of John Mearsheimer. The findings indicate that fear is not conceptually or theoretically significant to either Morgenthau or Waltz. Logically, the inclusion of this emotion is not only redundant but counterproductive in all of the examined theories, especially in that of Mearsheimer. This being so, even though the level of fear is afforded a central conceptual and theoretical role in his offensive realism. As such, this thesis challenges the conventional wisdom in the literature regarding the relationship between realism and fear and exposes the myths that pervades the field on this issue.

The thesis has focused on John J. Mearsheimers theory of offensive realism and applied it onto the contemporary relations between People´s Republic of China, Russian Federation, and the presence of United States in Europe and the Asian-Pacific region. The thesis concludes that the probability of war is moderate, due to the current balance of military power in each respective region. China is actively challenging the United States both militarily and politically in the international community, albeit without successful results. Russian hegemony in Europe is balanced and kept in check by the NATO alliance, which the United States is an integral part of. The Sino-Russian relations are marked by an overall respective tone between the two powerful Asian states. The thesis concludes through a mixed-method-design that the balance is currently maintained between the three states, but any deviation one way or another risk overthrow the world into an unbalanced state which is by far the deadliest, according to Mearsheimer's offensive realism.

The great strategic distrust between the two world largest economic and military powers is one of the most debated topics in contemporary international relations. This thesis question if the current hegemon view its new competitor as an offensive or defensive realist state and which policies should consequently be taken. China’s policy of peaceful coexistence and the U.S attempt of global integration may not be fully compatible and the thesis illuminates the contradicting notions of China Confucius values and how they are visible in its foreign policy rhetoric. The thesis conclude by stating that the China’s ambitions in not seen as following the guidelines of a defensive realist state in the eye of the United States and that China’s so called unique characteristics and values are mere rhetoric that does not seem to shape its current foreign policy. The U.S response is so far a passive containment by increasing cooperation with other actors in the region as a balancing act while simultaneously cautiously engage and try to influence China to adopt policies fitting a global player and work for peaceful solutions to international problems. Thus China is not seen as either a friend or a foe but is currently viewed as being in a grey area of competitor and cooperator.

I denne studien analyseres sikkerhetspolitiske utviklingstrekk i USA fra Bush til Obama. Fokuset rettes mot betydningsfulle kontinuiteter og endringer i overordnede syn på maktmidler, interesser og samarbeidstilnærminger. Empirisk materiale utgjøres hovedsakelig av ulike utgaver av amerikansk “National Security Strategy”. Slike strategier inneholder brede budskap, og som hjelp til å identifisere spesielt viktige momenter utarbeides først en teoretisk analyseramme basert på perspektiver til de samtidsaktuelle forskerne John J. Mearsheimer og Joseph S. Nye. Studiens resultater viser at militærmakten har en stabil posisjon som det høyest prioriterte maktmiddel i USA, men ny regjering satser mer på myke maktmidler og mindre på militærmakt ved fremming av egne verdier. Vedrørende interesser finner vi kontinuitet i at forsvar av nasjonen og håndtering av militære trusler er styrende for sikkerhetspolitikken, og USA har intensjoner om å opprettholde militær overlegenhet. Videre er også spredning av demokrati, respekt for menneskerettigheter og åpen markedsøkonomi konstante interesser, men en endring er at nasjonens økonomi er oppjustert på den sikkerhetspolitiske agenda. I et samarbeids-perspektiv synes unilateral militær agering mindre aktuelt for ny regjering, og internasjonale institusjoner er mer vektlagt. USA har imidlertid et videreført siktemål om å inneha en tydelig lederrolle og få stort gjennomslag for egeninteresser i internasjonalt samarbeid. Totalt sett indikerer de to regjeringenes sikkerhetsstrategier at styrende interesser er uendret, men den nye regjeringen har intensjoner om en mer balansert anvendelse av maktmidler og kommuniserer en mindre unilateral samarbeidsprofil. Forekomsten av vektige stabile trekk har imidlertid en dempende effekt på endringene, og bidrar til å gi inntrykk av at USA for tiden ikke staker ut en ny kurs, men justerer eksisterende kurs.
This study analyzes the development of the United States security policy from the administrations of Bush to Obama. Its focus is directed towards significant continuities and changes in the context of political means, interests and approaches to international cooperation. The empirical data mainly consists of U.S. National Security Strategies issued in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Such strategies contain broad messages and, therefore, to help identify issues of special significance, a theoretical framework based on the perspectives of the international relations scholars John J. Mearsheimer and Joseph S. Nye is first developed.  The findings of the study show that the position of military power as the most prioritized political instrument in the U.S. remains stable. However, in an effort to promote the nation’s values, the new administration intends to make more use of soft power and less use of military power. Regarding its interests, defending the nation and handling military threats are still top priorities, and an important aspect is that the U.S. intends to maintain its global military superiority. Spreading democracy, respect for human rights and free trade in an open international economic system are also constant interests, but one notable development is that the national economy figures more prominently on the security agenda. Looking at the approaches for cooperation, it seems that unilateral military action is an option which is less likely to be used by the new administration. Furthermore, this administration places greater emphasis on the value of international institutions than the previous administration. Still, an important continuity is the intention of maintaining a clear leadership role and strongly advancing U.S. interests when cooperating internationally. To summarize, the two administrations security strategies indicate that governing interests are unchanged, but the new administration is aiming for a better balance of the tools of American power, and is communicating a less unilateral profile. Still, the presence of significant stable aspects reduces the level of change, and contributes to the impression that the U.S. is not developing a new course, but rather adjusting the current one.

A política, no sistema internacional do século XXI, será impactada pelas mudanças na base demográfica dos países. Ao mesmo tempo, aumenta a necessidade de Estados com acesso a tecnologias de ponta, ou seja, de grande polaridade, de utilizarem os recursos humanos de países em crescimento para a maximização de poder. O processo impacta a polarização com novas alianças de países. O uso da força necessita de pessoas para a defesa e a garantia da sobrevivência do Estado na Anarquia. Principalmente, em um cenário de guerra sistêmica com a utilização de armas nucleares que constituem as fiadoras das operações convencionais. Concomitantemente, a quantidade de pessoas na força de trabalho é a base das políticas de dissuasão nuclear dos Estados devido a capacidade de sobrevivência a um segundo ataque.
The policy in the twenty-first century international system, will be impacted by changes in the demographic base of countries. At the same time, increases the need for States with access to advanced technologies, ie, high polarity, use of human resources for countries to maximize growth of power. The polarization process impacts of new alliances with countries. The use of force requires people to defend and guarantee the survival of the state in Anarchy. Especially in a war scenario with the systemic use of nuclear weapons which are the guarantors of conventional operations. Concomitantly, the number of people in the workforce is the cornerstone of nuclear deterrence policies of the states over the survivability of a second attack.

In this theory testing case study the aim is to test which of the two competing theories, defensive and offensive realism, possess the greater explanatory power in regards to the Israeli action against Iran between 2007-2020, while subsequently assessing if either theory is applicable. Two competing analytical models, based around the seminal works of Kenneth Waltz, Stephen Walt, and John J. Mearsheimer, will be applied upon the Israeli actions against the Iranian nuclear program and the Israeli actions against Iran in Syria. The essay utilizes a wide array of sources, from news articles to academic papers, in order to provide a correct description of the events of study. This aim was conceptualized by posing a research question, followed by four competing hypotheses. These will, in conjunction with the analytical models, enable a comparison of the explanatory power the theories possess when applied upon the Israeli conduct against Iran. It is concluded in this paper that defensive realism possesses greater explanatory power when applied upon the Israeli conduct against Iran, compared with offensive realism.

With the aim of contributing to the recent debate on the fate of the liberal international order, this thesis has examined how prominent advocates of the liberal international order explain its contemporary state of crisis. Taking a point of departure in John Mearsheimer’s critical argument of three essential flaws in the liberal order, I have expanded these flaws into three theoretical areas. These theoretical areas highlight fundamental components in the liberal international order that, according to Mearsheimer, endogenously undermine the liberal international order which will eventually lead to its demise. These theoretical areas are the expansion of the liberal order, resistance in liberal democracies and the threat of China. Analyzing the ideas of liberal advocates within these theoretical areas, I have found that they have offered strong arguments on why the liberal international order will not perish. Although the liberal advocates see a crisis of governance and legitimacy in the liberal order, they believe that the order’s beneficial and robustious architecture constrain states from abandoning the international institutions of the liberal international order. However, drawing on previous research, I have discussed the plausible possibility and consequences of an increasingly powerful China rising within the order. I have concluded that the liberal advocates have not satisfactorily explained this threat of China to the contemporary U.S-led liberal order.

Central Asia has been the focal point of intense geopolitical power struggle throughout history. At the dawn of the 21st century, Central Asia has undergone major changes as the European Union and the China-led Shanghai Co-operation Organization have emerged as two normative powers, both seeking to influence the patterns of security governance in the region. This study aims to delve deep into ‘the black boxes’ of the EU’s and China’s foreign policies toward five CA republics. It starts from the premise that the bulk of research on Eurasian politics tend to concentrate mostly on realist and traditional geopolitical doctrine, which seem to have failed to properly explain the normative and ideational transformations that have taken place in the region as a result of the presence of these two emerging normative agents. By interweaving both realist and constructivist theories of International Relations (IR) into a new all-encompassing analytical framework, termed “meta-geopolitics”, the thesis seeks to trace and examine how geopolitical as well as normative components of the EU and Chinese regional strategies have affected the contemporary power dynamics in the post-Soviet space. I argue that, in contrast to the geopolitical struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries, a clash of normative powers is brewing in the region between China, under the aegis of the SCO, and the EU. The research also concludes that China has relatively been in a better position in comparison to the EU to render its policies as feasible, effective and legitimate to the Central Asian states.

History of international relations suggests that rising power brings challenges and creates unstable environment in the international system. This thesis deals with the rise of China and its implications to the East Asia region. China has experienced massive economic growth over the last few decades which is likely to influence the dynamics not only of the region, but also of the international system as a whole. There is an ongoing discussion in the academic literature regarding the rise of China. In this thesis, the offensive neorealism theory of John J, Mearsheimer is employed. This paper focuses on the region of East Asia, namely to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Since the region is heavily penetrated by the US power, its position is also discussed. The question is how China will behave when it gets more powerful and what strategies the neighbouring countries choose in order to deal with China's rising power. The theory assumes that rising great power strive to dominate its region in order to establish regional hegemony. The main aim of this thesis is to examine whether or not the aforementioned states act according to the prism of offensive neorealism.

A liberal understanding of international politics is currently dominant. However, it is important to note that there are still states that have not adopted this understanding, yet, which brings complications here. The current clash of these two understandings, i.e. liberalism and realism, thus constantly forms the security environment. Probably the most obvious case of the present seems to be the case of Ukraine and the related Ukraine crisis. The aim of this diploma thesis is to give a picture of the causes of the Ukraine crisis in a broader context than is generally interpreted across individual media, using an offensive-realistic framework. The motives of the individual actors of the conflict, especially Russia, will be examined in an attempt to present those motives as not primarily offensive but to some extent as defensive. Several research questions will serve me to fulfil the above-mentioned goal - How can the main causes of the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine be explained from the perspective of offensive realism? According to offensive realism, what actor is responsible for the outbreak of conflict? In terms of offensive realism, how can the motives of the key actors (i.e. Russia, the West) be explained?

碩士
國立中正大學
戰略暨國際事務研究所
101
From classical realism to neorealism, to offensive realism, “power,” is always the most important factor in the school of realism, and John J. Mearsheimer is an international relation scholar who manipulates power to the utmost. In his representative work The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, he reduced the definition of power into “potential power,” and “military power,” and then made use of the aforementioned to analyze the rising of Europe’s hegemony from 1792-1990, furthermore he argued “international politics,” as “great power politics,” in the anarchy international society. Country will pursue power constantly until to the regional hegemony. Besides, according to the perspective of offensive realism, he predicted China’s rising will threaten the structure of international system. Therefore, this article would follow John J. Mearsheimer’s power measure model, at first, from “objective” aspect, to explore the background element of China’s economic and military power rising, secondly, from “subjective” aspect, to examine the idea of China rising under the perspective of offensive realism through the three hypothesis mentioned by John J Mearsheimer's prediction of the structure of power of Northeastern Asia in 2020, in order to understand the explanation between theory and reality.

博士
中國文化大學
政治學研究所
95
The rise of China has been a focal point, which arouses hot debates among academics and nations in the past decade. Different countries have different perceptions on the rise of China. This dissertation mainly examines how the Untied States reacts, in terms of thinking and actions, to the rise of China. Drawing on John Mersheimer’s offensive realism, this research establishes a novel analytical framework and then examines the explanatory power of Mersheimer’s theory for the purpose of complementing and integrating both theory and facts. This dissertation finds that John Mearsheimer’s offensive realism provides an essential framework to explain the relationships between hegemonic powers and emerging powers. While emerging powers aim to take place of existing hegemon (namely the US), the latter takes all necessary means to prevent emerging powers from challenging its status and authority. This logic of analytical framework applies to the US-China relationships in the wake of the rising China. As the US perceives China as an emerging power, China acquires potential capability to challenge US hegemonic status in the future. According to John Mersheimer’s offensive realism, shirking is the top option for existing hegemon in response to emerging powers. This dissertation argues that as an offshore balancer, the US should shirk its dominant role and invite surrounding countries of China to counterbalance China before Beijing actually poses a threat to US hegemonic status. Ironically, in observing US practices since 1990, Washington has not been shirking its responsibility. Instead, the US chooses to actively intervene the rise of China and maintain its hegemonic position through multiple approaches. A reasonable explanation is that the US aims to control and contain the threat of emerging powers as early as possible and expect to constrain the emerging powers within an acceptable scope.