The Influence Of Neorealism On The World War II

Kenneth Waltz is a renowned international theorist who has a neorealism view. Waltz believes that nuclear weapons can be seen as a positive thing. In the book he is associated with the belief that “more may be better.” He talks about states creating their own sense of security to ward off internal and

Defensive theory asserts that aggressive expansion as promoted by offensive neorealists upsets the tendency of states to conform to the balance of power theory, thereby decreasing the primary objective of the state, which they argue is ensuring its security . It is very important to say that Mearsheimer is not satisfied with Waltz’s theory. Great powers are seek to maintain the security and thereby the status quo. The international system creates strong stimulus, forcing the great powers to look for opportunities to increase their own power at the expense of competitors. They are interested not only in imbalance of power, but also interested in the maximum weakening of their competitors. Every great power will seek to change the balance of forces in its

World War II changed the outlook of American society and economy. Alan Brinkley discusses these changes in his article, World War II and American Liberalism. Brinkley discusses the events that brought on these changes, and what was the result of said changes on the American society. Before and during the war, American liberalism started to realize what its main mission was at the time.

In the international arena, there is no hierarchical rule to keep states in line or behaved; meaning that the international system is constantly in anarchy, aka the state of nature. This lack of rule enforcement puts states in a constant state of war, in a constant state where they need to stay on guard and in a tactical advantage otherwise the safety and well being of their state will be in jeopardy. In this scenario, the state’s number one priority is to protect itself and act in its self interest when need be, despite if it would typically be deemed immoral. (Donnelly 20)

For over 500 years of progression did a mess of positive outcomes, medicine, exploration and social advancement, yet a considerable measure of negatives happened as well, as all the more mass destruction weapons and the capacity to wipe ourselves out, However the reaction of this perfect was World War II, for instance, the world was confronting an ideology in Europe. Patriotism is the way the individuals started to end up firmly committed to their nation. It’s an immediate reason for the wars that happened in Europe from 1850 to 1950. The switch again into conservatism happened of mass murders, and casualties brought about by the different transformations for social change. The Nazi regin comes into power as Germany are drenched with corruption

Therefore, states must be as powerful as possible in order to decrease the chances of becoming a future victim. Defensive realists, on the other hand, believe that stabilizing factors can be put into place in order to favor the defense. These include balancing, as previously mentioned, and other factors that make conquest more costly for the aggressors. Therefore defensive realism clearly guided the adoption of the strategy of the containment of Soviet expansion.

It has been around eighty years since the world’s deadliest war occurred. World War II is a topic that is often mentioned and debated on. From the year it actually started to how many were killed, World War II has been disputed about for decades. Layers concealing the inhumane and horrific crimes are slowly peeling off. While the coats of lies are being uncovered, however, not much of the truth has been taught. Most of the information learned today show only what the victors accomplished and strived to achieve. But there is another perspective, nearly forgotten amongst the exciting tales of victory, that tells of pain and desperate situations many faced at the end and even after the war. It is told through the losers point of view, which in the case of World War II in Europe, are the Germans.

Realism is a theory which believes that sovereign states are the primary actors in the international system. It also believes that the international system has always been anarchic due to the nature of states not trusting each other and each state seeking to gain or maximize its own power capability. The Realist approach to the Cold War was also that of an “anarchical constitutive” and had seen the Cold War as something that was not out of the ordinary. The realists believed that states are always competing to maximize their own power, “the basic premise of its understanding is that the Cold War was not historically unique. the Cold War rather reflected in general terms the ongoing logic of inter-state conflict derived from the anarchical constitutive nature of the international system, and the ‘power maximization’ policies of states” R.Saull (2001:7).

Furthermore, according to realist, it is not possible for “rival powers [to] cooperate on…security issues of common interest” (Kegley, 28). In fact, cooperation among states is rare because the distribution of relative gains deriving

The outbreak of World War II was a direct result of World War I. When World War I ended, numerous countries had political parties advocating for a totalitarian regime. Nationalism played a crucial part in the development of an authoritarian government as leaders recognized it as a tool which allowed them to unify the nation and justify their actions. Leaders like Hitler utilized this effectively. “National Socialism grew out of many complex developments, of which entail were extreme nationalism and racism.” These two ideas would resonate with Hitler all the way until the end of World War II. Hitler collectively blamed the Jews for many problems Germany were facing, such as the great economic depression that had plagued much of the world around

World War 2 was one of the most catastrophic events in human history. With millions dying in very few years, the destruction has left a scar on nations that is still visible in the present day. One of the most terrifying nations back during the days of war was Japan. Their culture promoted war, fighting, and being as ruthless as possible, causing them to be an extreme threat to world peace. The military looked into ancient myths about the Japanese, and the Emperor in particular, as they were said to be directly related to the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami. The nation and military of Japan wanted to bring racial and spiritual purity into the world, and as Laurence Rees put it, “The Japanese had been ‘brainwashed’ for centuries”. The war in the Japanese front took longer to end, and many speculate that if the United States had not created the atom bomb, the war in Asia would have lasted many more years. The answers for this prolongation is rooted deep in Japanese culture and history. There are many strange examples and acts from the Japanese military during World War 2. For example, not a single soldier would ever surrender as POW. Due to rules by the military and the indoctrination of beliefs, soldiers would refuse to accept defeat. This had roots in the government as well, and the Emperor of Japan along with the rest of the government refused surrender even when defeat was apparent. The interpretation of Japanese social, military, and historical culture caused individual

The end of the First World War saw a shift in political thought towards liberalism through the creation of the League of Nations to avoid a recurrence of international aggression, while realism seemed to have lost its credibility. The dramatic failure of the League in stopping another international war gave rise to serious questions and doubts about the effectiveness of the liberal ideas upon which it had been founded. This offered realism a chance to re-emerge as the dominant perspective in international relations. But, unlike the eighteenth-century definition of classical realism that argued that all states are motivated by the pursuit of power and expansion, the postwar realists modified the initial theory. For nearly 2,500 years, classical realism has displayed a principal unity of thought. One of the most important classical realist writer, Hans Morgenthau, came to have the largest impact on this field. His 1948 book, Politics Among Nations, coined an account of realism that dominated international relations for almost three decades.

“The world the American people had tried to exclude after the First World War could not forever be kept at bay.” (The Great Depression and World War II;Kennedy, David). World War II began in the year 1939 and lasted until 1945. (history.com,Pearl Harbor) Many of the issues that arose during the Second World War was initial baggage from the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles was the reason why the First World War ended between the Allied Powers and Germany. (history.com). During this time, the United States wanted as little involvement with Europe’s controversies. Meanwhile, the United States did not know at the time that Japan was a threat to our country because of unresolved issues prior to Pearl Harbor. (history.com). The common denominator between both of our countries in this era was that we were both in financial crises. (Gilder Legrman, Institure of American History) The United States was suffering from the Great Depression and Japan was in a financial crisis. One of the reasons that the United States was not in favor of Japan was because we did not support their attacks on China. “The United States allied with China when Japan declared war on China in 1937” (Office of The Historian). “The United States responded to the aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes” (Pearl Harbor and the road to war, history.com). Japan was upset

In “Structural Realism...” Waltz defends his theory of Structural Realism against criticism that its tenets are no longer valid in a post-Cold War world. The international system, he writes, is still anarchic, even though that system is unipolar instead of bipolar as it was during the Cold War, and that states still seek hegemony and power. A nation 's ideals and internal factors may count for something (he posits that the US intervention after the collapse of Yugoslavia was the result of such pressures),3 but they certainly shouldn 't. States should make decisions based on the idea of maintaining their own security and maintaining a balance of power in the international system.

For example, although there is consensus that the international system is structured anarchically, neo-realists and neoliberals hold differing views on the nature of anarchy: the former argues that anarchy is all-encompassing whereas the latter contends that anarchy can be weak or strong. Furthermore, neo-realists think that international cooperation is much harder to achieve than neoliberals do. What is more, they see institutions as unable to mitigate international anarchy, while neoliberals doubt this. All of the aforementioned differences will be sequentially elaborated on throughout this essay.