Starting on the topic of Realism, it is a theory that explores the conflictual side of international relations. It claims that states are the principle actors in international relations, that they are the unitary actor of it’s own state as a whole, and that the ones who decide the actions of the state are all based on the pursuit of the national interests. The ultimate goal of this theory is ultimately the survival of it’s own state. In Realism, it is believed that states live in anarchy, meaning that there is no ultimate power that can control everything internationally to keep all the states in check. As a result, all states can only rely for themselves. It is the thought that humans are evil and as stated on the reading of “Introducing Realism in International Relations Theory”, “humans are essentially held hostage to repetitive patterns of behavior determined by their nature”, which is very interesting due to it’s idea being related to Thomas Hobbes, an English Philosopher, who firmly believed that all human by nature are ‘solitary, poor, nasty brutish, and short’.

This made me wonder, how would a government run using the theory of Realism. The purpose of Realism is to guide and provide an insightful perspective for leaders to focus on the survival of the nation. They put the nation’s interest as its priority, and you could say that they abandon the morality of the actions or decisions made by realist leaders. Another thing that stood out to me was that, from a realist perspective it is essential to get prevent any future threats from taking place for example, with ISIS, using this theory it would be assumed that this group should be removed but at the same time it recommends you to take extreme caution as one wrong move could lead to the downfall of the state. Overall, in my opinion, I feel that this theory is something that should always be considered when running a country.

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