Cohen Blog 1

 Daniel Cohen

Prof. Shirk

International Relations

3 February, 2022


For my first blog I wanted to discuss something that caught my attention the first time we looked at it in class: Political Realism. I connected the theories and ideas of this point of view almost immediately to Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian renaissance philosopher known for his unconventional and some would say immoral political style.  I think Machiavelli, more than any other political philosopher I’ve studied, embodies the standards and principles laid out in political realism. As a man who was born during a time when the ethical standards of state and of warfare were paramount to international relations, Machiavelli was presented with a field of study wherein his ideas were unlikely to immediately garner widespread acceptance or support.

 He was among the first to develop a political theory that drew a line of separation between politics and ethics, a theory that claimed morality was defined in a way that immoral action, the means, could always be justified by the ends. This brand of behavior that many would commonly see as unacceptable was encouraged outright by a Machiavelli tows the line of political realism more than most people realize; as he maintains that a person’s individual morals and principles tend to, or at least realistically shouldn’t, have any kind of effect on the actions or decisions made by politicians concerned with their respective nations. The two should exist in a mutually exclusive state at least until an actor adopts the mindset that if one’s actions are towards the greater good, the overall benefit of the community or nation, then any action taken in pursuit of that greater good must in some way be considered moral. This strays from the main idea of political realism we discussed in class, but it addresses the theme concerning the separation of morals and politics so prevalent within that ideology.


Comments

  1. Remi AdefioyeFebruary 9, 2022 at 9:34 AM

    When I read Morgenthau's "Six Principles of Political Realism" I also instantly thought of Machiavelli. Machiavelli’s political theory in The Prince is often misconceived for only having horrible and evil ways to rule, when in fact he gives numerous tools that are necessary to lead a political society or your everyday business. The controversial claims that he wrote like it is better to be feared than loved take readers away from the powerful and influential claims that he made. Being a leader was a difficult job then and remains one today. The overall message that i took from Machiavelli's political theory is that being nice may well be a virtue in general but it is not necessarily effective. It is almost impossible to be a good politician and a good person.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Simone BilleraFebruary 9, 2022 at 12:16 PM

    Before this course, I was not very informed about the various approaches and theories used to study international politics. More specifically, the idea of political realism was still slightly unclear to me. Your incorporation of Machiavelli and his ideas enabled me to better understand its essence, as political realism and Machiavelli's theories evidently overlap and intertwine in regards to the separation of politics and morality. Additionally, Remi's comments to this post (left above mine) stood out to me immensely. The last two lines of the comment discuss how being nice may be a virtue but not necessarily effective as well as how it is nearly impossible to simultaneously be a good politician and a good person. Such questions are intensely interesting, and I would love to have a discussion of this sort in our class.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brian CoteFebruary 9, 2022 at 4:33 PM

    I appreciate your connection between Machiavelli and realism. I strongly agree with your observation that Machiavelli embodies realism, as having read The Prince, it is clear that he knows what needs to be done for a leader to stay in power, no matter the human or economic cost. He lived in an extremely volatile time in Italian history where any political mistake or sign of weakness meant death or deposition of power, which typically resulted in death as well. Morality often had to be compromised in the pursuit of interests, because you can make changed for the betterment of the population only if you maintain power, so any action for power preservation is justified. Since realists believe that international politics is anarchic, the state has the power to impose its will on the people, and Machiavelli recognized that. Very good connection!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Billera Blog 5

Simone Billera May 4th, 2022 Blog Post #5 During our class discussion on the Todorov reading, one of the groups asked a thought-provoking question. Within the question, they proposed the potential similarities between the colonization of the Americas in 1492 to our world’s current pursuit of space exploration. After our class discussion, I concluded that the foundation of these two events are similar in nature, to an extent. Additionally, I deduced that such similarities highlight the hypocrisy that continues to seep through our world today, especially in the United States.  Space exploration is a well-respected sector of society. It can be said that those who work in the field are generally intelligent people from educated backgrounds. Each of these individuals has personal reasoning behind their contributions to space exploration, whether it be an earnest urge to benefit the whole of society or the simple but compelling desire for money and power. Whatever the reasoning might...
Read more

Cohen ICC Blog

 To me the most persuasive argument came from the author Daniel Abe; wherein he makes the claim that the cases that the ICC are continually pursuing are both not high value enough, as well as much too costly. Given the underwhelming nature of many of the recent cases the ICC has been taking, the amount of money being poured into financing and providing resources for these cases is far from worth it. As of late, the ICC has been trying to target leaders within many African countries with arguably moderate success at best. If the ICC can't handle going after these much smaller, much weaker countries in comparison to any more powerful or rich countries, how effectual of a body actually is it?
Read more

Remi Blog Post 5

  Remi Adefioye Blog post 5 May 4, 2022 In the article, “Silences Voices in Global Health,” the author describes current movements which aim to improve the representation of the global south and ultimately tackle the power structure in global health. Additionally, the author believes that whilst improving inclusion in global health is required, to change the power structures in global health there needs to be a new and fair world order. After reading this article, I thought about the pandemic and its effect on developing countries. While some people have argued for a reform of the World Health Organization due to its inadequate response during the pandemic, I believe the first problem that needs to be addressed in global health is improving the health systems in developing countries. As we have seen during the pandemic, many developing countries have struggled. Unsurprisingly, NGOs and donors have been the primary providers of health services. Even though these organizations are pr...
Read more