Realism: Some Key Points
Richard W. Chadwick*
"Realist" perspectives are many, lending both vagueness and
ambiguity to the field of vision to which they point. My own impressions
of it are is encapsulated in the following assumptions and norms:
- Conflict - what is it? It's effort to attain one's goals in a
manner that interferes with other's attaining their goals. Example: Japan
and the USA post WW II.
- Latent vs. Manifest conflict: sometimes conflict is not
apparent to people; they are in fact interfering with each other's goal
attainment, but one or the other does not know it. We call this "latent"
or "hidden" conflict. When it's one sided, it's sabotage or espionage.
When it's overt, it's "manifest" or "open" conflict.
- Conflict exists at many levels. Examples: from within a person
to interpersonal relations, to relations between persons and
organizations, between organizations, states, and alliances.
- Conflict becomes increasingly important as the stress they
experience from not attaining their goals becomes increasingly unbearable,
threatening to those values they hold most dear. Example: USA involvement
in World War II.
- As conflict becomes more unbearable, more costly means are
used to attain goals. Example: USA Vietnam involvement
- Estimating costs relative to the progress made by
alternative strategies is one of key abilities of leadership. Unless
leaders can do this successfully, they are very likely to fail to attain
their goals.
- What are leaders' goals? Succinctly: to survive, as
leaders (that is, in position, with power).
- Conflict will be with us as long as people have values and
goals that can be achieved only at each other's expense.
- Since people have values and goals that are incompatible,
conflict is inevitable.
- The question then arises: by what means will conflicting
aims be pursued? Consider first the nature of the threats which may be
perceived.
- Lasswell conceptualized the politicization of a relationship
as introducing into the relationship, a severe threat to something highly
valued(Lasswell,Power & Personality,...). It could be a
threat to the attainment of some goal, or the means by which desired goals
are believed to be obtained. As the threat becomes more severe, one's
willingness to use up available means would be expected to escalate, in
order to counter the threat.
For a checklist of "means," see Lasswell's Value
Theory.
- Maslow: Survival <= Security => Community <= Respect
<= Rectitude
- Is it better to be loved than feared? Depends on whom you're
talking about!
* Originally prepared 9/12/94 as notes for a talk to Dr. Zhou Xiao (Kate)'s
comparative politics class (P.S. 340) that same day.