Classical Realism Approaches to Global Governance

 Classical Realism Approaches to Global Governance
Classical realism in the global governance is seen as the best and well established theoretical perspective in the global relations. Realism has now dominated the international relations to such extent that scholars and students seem to lose sight that classical realism is among the many perspectives (Ceylan, 2016). Realism has been argued to be more realistic as compared to other perspectives such as idealism. Many realists argue that realism is more accurate in the analysis of the international relations than any other perspective. They further claim that realism consists of unchanging laws that regulate the behavior of the states and individuals (Kalm, 2016). Global governance is based on the ideology of cooperation between national governments, civil societies and multilateral public bodies in order to achieve some accepted goals. Global governance has been providing the strategic direction and marshaling energies in order to address challenges in the global arena (Furlong & Marsh, 2010). For this to be effective there is need for inclusivity, dynamism and the ability to span sectoral and national interests and boundaries. Global governance should operate through democratic means as opposed to authoritative means. In additional it should operate more politically open as opposed to bureaucracy and less specialized as opposed to more integration.
Realism has been dominating the international Relations after the Second World War. Certain nations have been using classical realism such as Britain when in its relationship with European Union. Its exit depicts the role of classical realism in play since it exited in order to preserve its self interests. The ideas behind this theory have their roots from the traditional thought that dates back to the writing of Thucydides on the Peloponnesian wars that involved the Greek states of Sparta and Athens (Ceylan, 2016). Thucydides used these wars to show how logic of power in politics depicted the inter-state conflict and relations instead of action or cooperation that is guided by higher moral authority. It showed that the les powerful states just accepted what they were not able to do while the powerful nation just did what they were able to do. The Iraq war in 2003 in which U.S forces invaded the country without clear reasons is another example of classical realism in play. The thoughts of Machiavelli, a political thinker and an Italian philosopher in the sixteen century and the ideas of Thomas Hobbes who was an English philosopher invoked further the idea of realism in the global governance (Furlong & Marsh, 2010). Niccolo Machiavelli proposed a number of guides that political leaders could use to maximize their power and advised leaders to break any promises if there was interest of doing so therefore making some of the scholars of the day labeling him an immoral thinker. Hobbes evoked images that suggested influence of the religion and the need to discern some scientific laws that defines the social behavior of an individual and state. The arguments by Hobbes and Machiavelli tend to support the idea of realism (Peter, 2015).
Basic Tenets of Classical Realism in Global Governance