1) Liberal pacifism believes that capitalism and democracy are forces for peace.
Additionally, liberal pacifism strives to maintain peaceful conditions. They also believe in free and peaceful trade because then no class gains from forcible expansion and no one is hurt economically. Their people are democratized, individualized, and rationalized. The readings state that “The people’s energies are daily absorbed in production. The disciplines of industry and the market train people in “economic rationalism”; the instability of industrial life necessitates calculation. Capitalism also “individualizes”; “subjective opportunities” replace the “immutable factors” of traditional, hierarchical societies” (Doyle 52).
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Their state is that of a capitalist democracy. Compared to liberal imperialism they want just material welfare while liberal imperialism wants more than just material welfare. Liberal imperialism expands because of feeling threatened by other states with similar aims and due to citizens needing to satisfy their ambition or to release their political energies through imperial expansion. However, the political view of liberal pacifism does not believe in expansion. Liberal pacifism actually contends with liberal imperialism that “the modern populace actually controls (and thus unbalances) the mixed republic, its diffidence may outweigh elite (“senatorial”) aggressiveness”(Doyle 54).
The state of liberal imperialism is a mixed republic characterized by social equality, popular liberty, and political participation. Liberal internationalism believes that there must be a united constitution among liberal states to “connect the characteristics of liberal politics and economies with sustained liberal peace… because the political bonds of liberal rights and interests have proven a remarkably firm foundation for mutual nonaggression. A separate peace exists among liberal states” (Doyle 59). Consequently, the state of liberal internationalism is a republic. Furthermore, liberal internationalism differs from liberal pacifism because it remains in a state of war with nonrepublics while liberal pacifism tries to remain out of conflicts and war.
2) The first principle of political realism is “that politics, like society in general, is governed by objective laws that have their roots in human nature”(Morgenthau 1). This means that we need to develop a “rational theory” and also be able to distinguish what is true objectively and rationally about these laws. Since human nature has not changed since classical philosophies then we can look into human nature and try to identify the reasoning and purpose of some objective laws. In the text it states that “it assumes that the character of a foreign policy can be ascertained only through the examination of the political acts performed and of the foreseeable consequences of these acts”(Morgenthau 1). Again, this means that through rational theory we can begin to identify what the reasoning and motives of political officials were.
Lastly, to properly understand and give meaning to foreign policy, we must put ourselves in the shoes of a political official who will be deciding on a specific issue and determine what they (a rational person) would chose. The second principle of political realism is: “interest defined in terms of power”(Morgenthau 2). If we look back at what a statesman has done then we can be able to identify his interests and guess what they will decide on a political issue. This involves a lot of paying attention to detail, knowing what the statesman in and out, and “intellectual discipline”. To understand foreign policy it is important to understand the “intellectual ability to comprehend the essentials of foreign policy, as well as his political ability to translate what he has comprehended into successful political action”(Morgenthau 3).
Furthermore, “political realism maintains not only that theory must focus upon the rational elements of political reality, but also that foreign policy ought to be rational in view of its own moral and practical purposes”(Morgenthau 4). The third principle of political realism is “interest defined as power is an objective category which is universally valid, but it does not endow that concept with a meaning that is fixed once and for all”(Morgenthau 5). This means that political interest itself is not fixed and can change. It has changed and will continue to change because “these ideas have very often served as switches determining the tracks on which the dynamism of interests kept actions moving”(Morgenthau 5). Additionally, this also applies to power, but the balance of power is what leads to “relative stability and peaceful conflict”(Morgenthau 6).
The fourth principle of political realism is that “universal moral principles cannot be applied to the actions of states in their abstract universal formulation”(Morgenthau 6). An example would be: “the state has no right to let its moral disapprobation of the infringement of liberty get in the way of successful political action, itself inspired by the moral principle of national survival”(Morgenthau 6). This means that even though there is a moral concern, the universal moral principles will have no effect in political actions. This places political action above moral principles. “Realism, then, considers prudence-the weighing of the consequences of alternative political actions-to be the supreme virtue in politics”(Morgenthau 6).
The fifth principle of political realism is that it “refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation with the moral laws that govern the universe”(Morgenthau 7). This means that we can not say that God is on one side and not the other. We should not mix this with the moral aspirations of a particular nation and the actual moral laws of said nation relating it to beliefs.
This way of thinking can lead to the destruction of “nations and civilizations-in the name of moral principle, ideal, or God himself” (Morgenthau 7). Lastly, if we look at all nations, including ours, political interests then “we are able to judge other nations as we judge our own and, having judged them in this fashion, we are then capable of pursuing policies that respect the interests of other nations, while protecting and promoting those of our own” (Morgenthau 7).The sixth principle of political realism is that there is a difference “between political realism and other schools of thought is real, and it is profound” (Morgenthau 7). Telling us that political realists are in fact unique and different from other theories. “Intellectually, the political realist maintains the autonomy of the political sphere, as the economist, the lawyer, the moralist maintain theirs.
He thinks in terms of interest defined as power, as the economist thinks in terms of interest defined as wealth” (Morgenthau 7). Furthermore, it states that “political realism takes issue with the “legalistic-moralistic approach” to international politics” (Morgenthau 8).