International Relations: Realism and neorealism — Classical Realism
The classical realist tradition from Thucydides and Kautilya to Machiavelli, Hobbes, Carr and Morgenthau, and how it explains power and conflict.
Try 3 questions
1. Which ancient historian's account of a war between Athens and Sparta is often read as the first realist text?
- Thucydides
- Plutarch
- Herodotus
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Answer: Thucydides
Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War explains events through fear, power and interest rather than the will of the gods, which is why realists claim him as a founder.
2. What did Thucydides call the truest cause of the Peloponnesian War?
- Sparta's fear of Athens's growing power
- A religious quarrel over the oracle at Delphi
- A dispute over a stolen trading fleet
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Answer: Sparta's fear of Athens's growing power
He separated the stated grievances from the underlying cause: the rise of Athenian power and the fear it created in Sparta, a shift in the balance that made war likely.
3. In Thucydides' Melian Dialogue, who says that 'the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must'?
- The Melian council
- The Spartan king
- The Athenian envoys
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Answer: The Athenian envoys
The Athenians tell neutral Melos that justice only applies between equals in power; Melos refuses to submit and is destroyed.
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