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Rebuttal Mearsheimer's Core Assumptions

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Core Assumptions
Realist presumptions are based on an anarchic system vested in the interest of the individual states through their own national interest. The state is expressed as rational and unitary actors; the main actor making rational decisions as a whole on behalf of the state. Power is hailed above all else and morals are irrelevant when the security of the state is at risk.
On the other hand, liberalists prefer cooperation and collaboration where war is a last resort. They consider human nature to be good in itself and that social progress can be made through moral and material improvements. They believe in a hierarchic system where power is not commutable. State and non-state actors are needed in the world of politics, wealth is also viewed as important when it …show more content…

His thesis centers on the overbearing pressure the West has placed on expanding NATO and how it is slowing trying to take more control. Mearsheimer explains that Russia’s action were to be expected given the ongoing encroachment. He finds Russia taking part of Ukraine justified given their continued fears of their boarders being compromised. Throughout the article he emphasis the danger of NATO expanding and how it has given reason for Russia to be on guard.
Sestanovich and Mcfaul rebuttal Mearsheimer’s thesis with their own by explaining that other contributing factors that have surrounded the crisis. They state many flaws in his writing and pose what they attribute to be the more likely possibilities. They point out the numerous interactions and cooperation that were present before the incident, such as signing the New Start treaty, supporting the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran, and other events. They identify Russia’s aggression has grown from within, due to their own internal political dynamics and not from NATO enlargement.
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