<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV> <P><BR> <DIV></DIV>>follow, then, that 'naive realism' in the field of international relations </P></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <P>>is open to some Marxian critiques</P> <P>What do you mean by 'naive realism' here? I don't see a connection between philosophical realism and realism in International Relations. </P> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>My reading of the discussion of realism in the International Relations field is that it has become a punching bag for anyone trying to establish a distinctive approach to the discipline. For what it's worth, I think realism in IR is sometimes very sophisticated.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The better representatives of realism (before it was taken over by crass positivists) had a tragic view of the human predicament, seeing political communities as constantly under threat. They saw prudence as the primary virtue of the statesman, whose responsibility it was to protect the community from external threats.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Today realists are quite defensive, and many of them seem to have chosen to live up to the caracature that their opponents present. The 'nuke 'em and see' school of realist stupidity does exist, but scarcely merits a critique. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As to how to criticise the better representatives, I think that Rob's point about ahistoricism is right, but needs to be more pointed towards their vision of the tragic and immutable nature of the human condition. Also, their abiding obsession is with the preservation of order, best achieved by maintaining the status quo and excluding the people from decision making. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One area where this is of interest today is in the so-called English School of international relations (Hedley Bull, Adam Watson and others), which was basically a brand of realism which emphasised the preservation of order even more than the others. Today there are active attempts to revive the school, lead not by old school ass-holes like Kissinger, but by critical theorists.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyway, I've just finished a PhD on this, so let me down gently if I'm wrong.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Michael Savage</DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href='http://go.msn.com/bql/hmtag_itl_EN.asp'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></html>