Realism, Liberalism and the Iraq War notes PDF

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Realism, Liberalism and the Iraq War  Misleading opinion that the Iraq war was the product of liberalism  Realists believe that the war part of a general post-cold war expressionism which led to the US military to intervene in more places & advances goals of democracy promotion & regime changes  Iraq war is the result of the pursuit of American Hegemonic primacy  Origins form realist thought that international order comes from concentrations of power  For many, primary objective of war was preservation & extension of American primacy  America viewed Iraq as a military threat  BALANCE OF POWER REALISM & IRAQ WAR – emphasis on international order based upon the balance of power.  The tendency of states to expand disrupts this  After cold war & the collapse of the bipolar system US became a unipolar power  By balance of power realist this is seen to be dangerous as the US holds the power to pursue expansive agendas by changing the regimes of smaller states deemed illegitimate by American standards & impose American preference everywhere  As order form balance of power undermined America because a source of disorder  American foreign policy driven less by inter-state rivalry and more by ideological preferences and interest groups  US intervened to spread an American model across the world  US overcommitted in places that had little to do with their fundamental national security objectives  Iraq was Americas next step – Bush administration said they invaded Iraq to liberate the people there by spreading democracy but the really saw Iraq as a threat and wanted it gone

 Restraint realists condemned the war as an ill-conceived ‘war of choice’ based on inflated estimates of Iraqi capabilities and motivations  They predicted that the forceful imposition of democracy in the alien culture of Iraq was doomed to fail  Realists critics thought the culprit was American liberal democratic ideology  For liberals, no regime is legitimate unless it has the consent of the governed and free people have the interest and responsibility to roll back the iron hand of oppression  With this view America is the first idea of freedom and has the duty to bring the world to freedom  Saddam Hussain Aggressive and murderous tyrant – target for virtuous wielding of American military  These arguments convinced realists that this is a liberal war  Hegemonic realism – order comes from concentrations of power  View international history as cyclical – order based on concentration of power gives way to disorder as power disperses to more actors  Hegemonic realists argue that a leading power provides order to the overall system by underwriting a set of rules and institutions that add regularity and predictability for large and small actors  Hegemonic order not based solely on the preponderant power of the leading state but also on its capabilities and its willingness to solve common problems of all states  Hegemonic state must prevent potential challengers  Leading state must prioritise those within its sphere with the greatest power potential  Hegemonic state – should have a good & effective military  Policy audience for hegemonic realists limited to leading powers  As US is the hegemon on a larger scale the operational-realist mindset gravitated to hegemonic realism  Iraq war is a hegemonic realist was, although is a poor application of hegemonic realism

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 Cheney, Rumsfeld & Wolfowitz operatives with experience in defence & foreign policy, associated to enunciate post-cold war strategy of American primacy .  All three views Saddam Hussain as a threat to American hegemony in the middle east & Persian Gulf  Gulf – 2/3rds of recoverable petrol reserves  Gulf viewed as vital to American hegemonic system & US made efforts to form alliances in this region though they routinely violated American norms of human rights and political accountability  Oil resources of middle east pivotal to American allies to Europe and East Asian than to the US itself.  To American policy makers no doubt that Saddam Hussain posed a threat to American order in that region  Iraqi government invaded Kuwait & held a vison of pan-Arab national consolidation that marked the elimination of ancient regimes in Saudi Arabia & Gulf  Persian Gulf war only American military victory since WW2  Given Iraq oil resources limited time till regime would pose threat to regional order  If Iraq in 2002 weakened by sanctions US policy makers saw this as an opportunity to eliminate rival before power was rebuilt  Overthrow of Iraq show Americas military superiority  Rumsfeld – Quick overthrow of Iraq with few American casualties demonstrates US military and technological superiority and would generate ‘shock and awe’ to other potential revisionist states that may encroach on Americas interests  A quick defeat of Iraq would eliminate a threat in the Persian gulf region & increase hegemonic reputation of the US  Democracy spread used to gain public support of the war & provide a template for post war Iraq reconstruction- it wasn’t the core objective it provided means for a legitimate war & secured American hegemonic primacy

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 Hard to imagine war without terrorist attack of 9/11 – created security problem  Interdependence relists though this security problem thought this has little salience to academic realists  Core idea of interdependence realism is anarchy – absence of government – is incompatible with minimum level of security necessary for human survival in situation where political actors can inflict lethal violence  Statements about this insight – Hobbes ‘ life is nasty, brutish & short’  Interdependence realism highlights why government is necessary in some territories  Greater security threat, such as development of nuclear weapons, showed increased need to stop anarchy  John Herz & Hans Morgenthau shows essential logic of security interdependence in the nuclear era  most academic realists abandon these views for deterrence as a means for states to sustain interdependence & avoid destruction  deterrence would suggest that world politics could remain anarchic but freed from war  Ronald Regan & soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev embraced deterrence, this suggested transformation of US-Soviet relations & nuclear arms treaties  In cold war nuclear problem unmanageable – diffusion of nuclear weapons & biological weapons to smaller states threatened hegemonic maintenance & increased terror threat  American insecurity heightened after 9/11 & anthrax attacks – threat of biological weapons by terrorist groups  Vice President Cheney & Bush concerned, advice was to aggressively eliminate actors that could attack & start a war- because of the heightened terror the bush administration connected non-existing dots

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 Attributed 9/11 to Saddam Hussain & exaggerated evidence of scope of Iraqi nuclear weapons programme, but didn’t seem implausible because Saddam Hussain very violent  Hegemonic realists & realist-interdependence argued that elimination of Iraqi regime necessary for protection of American regional hegemonic order  Cheney ‘ if there was a 1% chance of terrorist groups getting a weapon of mass destruction, US must act as if it was a certainty’ – 1% doctrine  The chief architects of the war weren’t liberal internationalists but relied on arguments from hegemonic realism & interdependence realism.  Critics think liberal internationalist supported the war for democratic promotion  However, liberals supported the war for concerns with interdependence realism which are as follows; 1) Liberal internationalist hold a diagnosis of security vulnerability that emphasised violence interdependence. They see weaponry threat form terrorists & revisionist states as a dangerous form of interdependence. Recognition of security threat by tech advances 2) Remedy to rising violence interdependence, Lib int. depart from realist interdependence approach by advancing arms control & security regime building rather than preventative war & hegemonic rule. Iraq’s repeated violation of arms treaties etc posed dangerous challenged to US hegemony & international order of mutual restraint and cooperative problem solving 3) Lin int. see establishment & maintenance of broad international coalitions as vital responses to security vulnerabilities & hold unilateral measures e.g. bush administrations Iraq policy undermine the international cooperation necessary for real & enduring new international security regime  Academic realists promised to provide better statecraft in dealing with security problems

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 Whilst becoming more sophisticated it became narrower dropping insights & arguments of violence interdependence realism & academic realist became blind to the logics of hegemonic realism & importance to foreign policy of the American hegemonic state.

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