, which is also known as political realism, is a view thatinternational politics is a sphere of no justice where the powerfulnations thrive to gain more power, and the weak nations have toaccept their subordinate positions (Genest 41). Critics of realism,who mainly draw their support from idealism and liberalism, arguethat international politics enhances the cooperation between nations.Liberalists contrast with the views of realists since they stress onthe cooperation and interdependence sides of international politics,unlike, the realists who emphasize that global politics facilitatesthe struggle for power and conflicts among states (Genest 75).Although the liberalists’ views are the most compelling ones, in myopinion, international politics encourages every nation to pursuetheir own national interests and struggle for power. It is only thatat the end of the competition in gaining power, some states mustbecome more powerful than the others. Therefore, for the powerfulnations to gain dominance they do whatever they can to remain inpower while the weaker ones have to accept their weak positions.
Idealist views, which are based on the argument that global politicscreates interdependence and cooperation among nations is the leastcompelling one. The idealists argue that nations usually have thechoice between subjection and war when they are interacting withother nations (Genest 90). Although I appreciate the fact that globalpolitics also facilitates cooperation among states, the most salientfeature of international politics is that it creates a platform forsome countries to dominate others as they struggle for power. Inother words, nations are always competing against each other, andtheir struggle for power is usually characterized by conflicts. Therole of global politics in promoting cooperation and cohesion amongstates is nearly impossible if there are no nations, which arestronger than others, and the weaker ones have accepted their weakpositions.
Genest, Marc. Conflict and cooperation: Evolving theories ofinternational relations. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2004.Print.