realist vs liberal perspective on human rights

“The Effects of Rights on Political Culture”. The Difference Between Realists and Liberals, The Pitiful Endgame of Saudi Arabia's Qatar Blockade, Why the World Should Root for the EU in Brexit Talks, Biden’s First Foreign-Policy Crisis Is Already Here, Turkey’s Luck Runs Out Over Russian S-400 Purchase. Krasner, Stephen. This means that governments should feel legitimised to send their troops to countries where serious human rights abuses are taking place, even without a clear mandate from the Security Council. States’ human rights obligations are not borne towards each other, but towards their own people, or, even more, towards anybody within their jurisdiction. In general, realists are strongly sceptical about international law (Morgenthau 1940; Krasner 2002), and about the international proclamation of one ‘moral code’ over potentially conflicting others (Morgenthau 1948). The same is also true of Nye: Although he has written a number of books on his own, he has also collaborated with Keohane and many others over a long, prolific career. Realism advises prudence in the use of military force. All Rights Reserved | Site by Rootsy. The narrative above remains the general view about realist thinking on human rights in global politics. And this debate was given voice in the ideas of the first great realist of this era—the British historian, E.H. Carr and the first great liberal visionary of this era— “Sovereignty, Regimes, and Human Rights”. By contrast, many of the most prominent liberal scholars have been enthusiastic collaborators. The revolutionary strength of these tools is considerably limited, and they are unlikely to energise individuals and communities left out from an unfair distribution of global resources (find an insightful debate on this in the volume edited by Lettinga and van Troost 2015). Simply ignoring the reality one seeks to transform is a guarantee of failure. This premise is not shared by one of the most influential legal realists of the 20th century, Carl Schmitt. Nevertheless, institutions necessarily confine the contestation. Donations are voluntary and not required to download the e-book - your link to download is below. More generally, realists cannot account for the existence of an international regime that imposes non-reciprocal obligations on states. Taking functional equality as a given, realists are particularly interested in the balance of power. New York: Columbia University Press. Bull, Hedley. Extracting the meaning of human rights from international law is therefore an exercise of ‘hegemonic contestation’, where international actors, including state officials, publicists, international NGOs, etc., ‘routinely challenge each other by invoking legal rules and principles on which they have projected meanings that support their preferences and counteract those of their opponents’ (2004, 199). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. “Realists, Too, Can Stand for Human Rights”. Bull defined order as ‘a pattern that leads to a particular result, an arrangement of social life such that it promotes certain goals or values’ (2002, 3-4). I am thinking here of scholars such as E.H. Carr, Hans J. Morgenthau, Kenneth Waltz, Robert Gilpin, John Mearsheimer, Stephen Krasner (and myself, for that matter). Albeit imperfect, a number of mechanisms have existed for decades to monitor compliance with CPR on individual cases both at the global and regional levels. A Liberal and Realist Perspective of China’s rise By Edmund Balogun. Well-known contemporary realists have also made the case, albeit feebly, to let human rights into the equation of hard politics. I contend, first, that realism creates the space for a political critique of international law, which helps us understand the political reasons why certain claims get framed in the language of human rights law. ABSTRACT The pandemic declared by the World Health Organization in March due to COVID-19 highlights the deepening differences between two opposed visions in the realm of international affairs. Mearsheimer, John. Lastly, I’m not arguing that scholars who work in the liberal tradition are less ambitious, less driven, or less competitive than their realist counterparts. 138-9). This paper has advocated a measured change for human rights defenders and academics to open up to what realism has to offer. The Responsibility to Protect. The first section introduces the conventional view according to which realism, with its focus on the state, material power and international anarchy, would dismiss the idea that human rights could matter at all in global politics. Goldsmith, Jack, and Posner, Eric. 1990. 2001. Can human rights bring social justice? human rights norms in modern international society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 150–62. 2005. “Positivism, Functionalism, and International Law”. 2014. H. Carr wrote his Twenty Years’ Crisis (2001) to warn about what he saw as an excess of wishful thinking among the idealists of the inter-war period. The Nomos of the Earth: In the International Law of the Jus Publicum Europeaum. Edmund is a graduate of The City University of New York: City College has a keen interest in foreign policy and international relations, and is well-versed in research, & data analysis. Yet, he did not dismiss ideals and morality entirely. amount, in any currency, is appreciated. Contemporary feminist scholarship has sought to critique the liberalism on which the conception of formal “equality” in the international human rights laws has been derived on a number of grounds. In their view, it is unwise to judge other states’ actions from a moral perspective (Morgenthau 1979; Kennan 1985). The underlying idea, Schmitt taught us, is that society’s enemies should not enjoy the rights and benefits society bestowed upon itself. Consider that the most prominent realist scholars are all intellectual loners, in the sense that the overwhelming majority of their scholarship is sole-authored. Our beliefs about how the world works are also shaped by our life experiences, by whom we happened to meet in college or graduate school, by important real-world events, and even by purely instrumental incentives such as the availability of research funding. Any (My joint work with Mearsheimer on the Israel lobby is an exception that does not disprove the rule, as it was not a work of IR theory and working together was essential for withstanding the firestorm of vituperation we knew we would and did receive). 1993. New York: Council on Religion and International Affairs. Cox, Robert. Find out more about E-IR’s range of open access books here. 2006. 2005. Also, the Amnesty International, one of the non-governmental organizations, aimed to prevent abuse of human rights and fight for justice for those who have been violated. However, this paper has argued that there are areas of potential strategic interaction between human rights and realism. States may negotiate, draft and ratify international human rights treaties inasmuch as they do not breach the fundamental tenets of international order, among them the principle of national sovereignty. In the wake of the Fukuyama’s ‘end of history’: liberal theory’s triumph over its soviet/communist other, and the subsequent march of ‘globalisation’ and the ascendancy of neo-liberal ideology, this article interrogates the theoretical developments Finally, realism can also allow us to theorise about a certain idea of order guided by international rules defined by states themselves. 2015. Foreign Policy, January (http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/11/03/an-unnecessary-war-2/, accessed 31/05/2017). Without a doubt, Schmitt’s anti-Semitism and proactive support of the Nazi regime make him an unlikely reference in any paper on human rights. Twelve essays. Realism allows for a nuanced view of international law as the product of a pluralist international society. Regime Theory and International Relations, edited by Volker Rittberger. The 17th century philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct philosophical tradition. For Michael Freeman (2002, 131), for example, ‘realism can explain the neglect of human rights by states, but it can explain neither the introduction nor the increasing influence of human rights in international relations’. Each of the liberal theorists, like the realists, makes some assumption about the interstate system, human nature and domestic society. This is an excerpt from Realism in Practice: An Appraisal. With the Rwandan genocide of 1994 still in mind, a number of observers felt compelled to justify NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999, despite the Security Council’s failure to authorise it due to the Russian veto. The Limits of International Law. Several instances which can be classified as realist act in response to the liberalist argument includes the beliefs that human being are naturally fixed, deeply flawed, and crucially selfish. For two decades, part of the human rights community has relied excessively on the military. Classical liberals believe that the list of genuine human rights is quite short. And Landman (2006, 44) writes that under realism states only allow human rights norms to emerge and develop ‘to gain short-term benefit and raise international legitimacy while counting on weak sanctions and largely unenforceable legal obligations’. And nearly four decades later, Walt and Mearsheimer (2003) challenged the extended view that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to American interests and that a military intervention was therefore unavoidable; in their opinion, Iraq was ‘an unnecessary war’. 2007. Liberalism - Liberalism - Rights: The third part of the solution followed from liberalism’s basic commitment to the freedom and integrity of the individual, which the limitation of power is, after all, meant to preserve. After they mastered their territories, rulers wanted to master crafts, too. Bull sees an international society ‘when a group of states, conscious of certain common interests and common values, form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of rules in their relations with one another, and share in the working of common institutions’ (2002, 13). Define Liberalism. The debate continues as to which school of International Relations remains the most relevant and timely with regards to the interpretation of the international system. Carr, E. H. 2001. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1948. Koskenniemi, Martti. Cambridge Review of International Affairs 17(2): 197–218. Ditto Bruce Russett, Michael Doyle, Martha Finnemore, John Ikenberry, Richard Rosecrance, Thomas Risse, and Kathryn Sikkink. However, individual complaint mechanisms on ESCR are newer and more inexperienced: the UN Committee dealing with ESCR issued its first decision in summer 2015, while the one on CPR examined the first cases in the late 1970s. One might add George Kennan or Henry Kissinger to that list, as both are normally thought of as “realists” and virtually all their published work appears with a single byline. Human Rights and Social Movements. Human rights advocates may prefer not to recommend the use of military force in the future. When it comes to professional standing, status, career advancement, etc., everyone seems to be sensitive to relative gains. Both government officials and human rights advocates would use the same terminology of IHRL (the same standards, the same provisions of the same treaties, etc. Cambridge: Polity. Commitment to individual freedom, reasoned debate and tolerance. Realism is present among legal scholars. Since the 1990s, liberal interventionism has taken hold within a big part of the global human rights community. Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University. The National Interest, October. And this matters because nowhere are human rights more at peril than on the battlefield. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 139–67. The Oxford Handbook of International Relations, edited by Christian Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal. Order would be highly desirable because it is ‘the condition of the realisation of other values’, including justice (Bull 2002, 93). Agamben, Giorgio. And Afghanistan?)”. Stammers, Neil. Introduction: when thinking about how the world works IR scholars usually subscribe to one of two dominant theories, realism or liberalism. An international regime matters only insofar as it reflects the pre-existing ‘distribution of power in the world’ (Mearsheimer 1994/95, 7), and norms get subsumed ‘in the material structure of the international system’ (Mearsheimer 1995, 91). human rights has been set up, its implementation and enforcement is far from being effective. London: Palgrave MacMillan. Realism invites us to reflect on the political reasons why some claims are more salient than others in IHRL. This chapter reflects on recent work on the theory of international law. In particular, is it possible that theoretical affinities reflect at least in part each individual’s basic personality traits or worldview? Realism is not well placed to explain the international human rights regime, and at least in their role of interpreters of global politics, realists will not become human rights activists unless they stop being realist first. Stephen M. Walt: For some R2P-promoters, this global responsibility would outplay other legal obligations, including the procedural requirements of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which regulates when and how the UN Security Council can decide on the deployment of armed forces to restore international peace and security. Likewise, European states endorse the R2P programmatically, provided it is made compatible with the procedures of the UN Charter, and knowing that they would not have to suffer the consequences of a foreign intervention on their soil. Abstract. Picking the right statistics has been critical to handling—or botching—the coronavirus pandemic. If one defends human rights the liberal perspective today, one is defending a status quo situation of specific types of institutions and more or less defending the highjacking of the theory in the interest of modern power relations. Other goals can be pursued as long as order is not put at risk. Human rights analysts could use some realism to unravel the politics behind the different form of institutionalisation of ESCR and CPR in international law, but also to reconsider the pitfalls of IHRL-based advocacy for social justice. This chapter appraises Realism from a human rights perspective. For example, European states were willing to adopt the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights with its Article 2(1), which makes clear that obligations will depend on ‘available resources’ and rights are only to be fulfilled ‘progressively’. For some, Kosovo would be one case only. on the other. Many thanks! “America Unhinged”. Millennium – Journal of International Studies 21(3): 435–61. I also believe realists have a hard time explaining why states agree to the creation of independent human rights bodies they have no control over, as weak as these bodies are. This paper is not denying that realists are sceptical of normative values in global politics. For the most part, realism and human rights have at the very least ignored each other. “Morality and Foreign Policy”. The realists' concepts and views ultimately render a more significant portrayal of U.S.-China international trade in comparison to the liberals' perspective. Although some of these scholars occasionally wrote with others and were important providers of various collective goods, they generally worked alone. Oxford: Oxford University Press. New York: Telos Press. The American Journal of International Law 34(2): 260–84. Studying Human Rights. Think of Robert Keohane, who first came to prominence through his joint work with Joseph Nye, but who has subsequently co-authored or co-edited books and articles with a wide array of other scholars. 1979. ), but they would mean different things in the above-mentioned dialectics for hegemonic contestation between utopia and apology of state action (Koskenniemi 2004 and 2005). Realism is static, prone to the status quo, suspicious of change. 2013. Oxford: Oxford University Press. support open access publishing. The Difference Between Realists and Liberals By combining conceptual analysis with an emphasis on procedures and mechanisms of implementation, this volume provides a multidimensional overview of human rights. They are also weaker: the European Court of Human Rights bests the European Committee of Social Rights in budget, number of cases heard per year, level of compliance by states, and pretty much any other possible variable. Human rights are a hybrid of liberal law, morality and politics. The second idea concerns what human rights actually are. I. Human Rights between Idealism and Realism presents human rights in action, focusing on their effectiveness as legal tools designed to benefit human beings. Foreign Policy, April (http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/04/25/why-is-america-so-bad-at-promoting-democracy-in-other-countries/, accessed 31/05/2017). The R2P would later be explicitly mentioned in UN Security Council Resolution 1973 (2011) that authorised NATO’s operation in Libya, which ended up in regime change. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting (American Society of International Law) 96: 265–8. Liberalism in a Realist World / 207 International Studies 46, 1&2 (2009): 203–19 The first ‘great debate’ was triggered by the World War I and its aftermath. Landman, Todd. 2002. Paraphrasing Cox, ‘to change the world, we have to begin with an understanding of the world as it is, which means the structures of reality that surround us’ (1986, 242). Raymond Quiocho Salas, J.D. The Twenty Years’ Crisis. The spy agencies will still get money, but Trump’s House allies are trying to hobble much-needed reforms. 2016. Liberal interventionists pushed the agenda of the use of force to pursue humanitarian goals like democracy promotion. There is no single definition of R2P, but the bottom line is that humanity as a whole has a shared responsibility to protect civilians, militarily if need be, in case of serious human rights violations, like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Concept of the Political. Mearsheimer, John and Walt, Stephen. Scholars who emphasize interdependence and institutions in their publications also seem to be more likely to work in interdependent ways, while those who tend to emphasize anarchy, insecurity, and competition approach their own scholarly work in more zero-sum terms, wary of entangling alliances. I am also not suggesting that personality is the only thing — or even the main factor — that shapes someone’s theoretical preferences. Realist and Liberal Approaches in International Relations ... interpretation of human rights and understanding the principle of equality. If we are to take seriously the claim that there is a global human rights culture, then we are entitled to … The second section provides an alternative perspective. 1994/95. Lettinga, Doutje, and van Troost, Lars (eds.). Abstract. 1986. Hence, international human rights law (IHRL) does not deserve much attention. Mearsheimer, John. Carl Schmitt himself defended this idea in The Nomos of the Earth (2006), where he contended that, at least since the 16th century, international law has derived from the progressive expansion of a Eurocentric notion of nomos, order, from the freedom of the seas, to the international law of armed conflict and the notion of state sovereignty and non-intervention. Koskenniemi chooses the word ‘hegemony’ in its Gramscian sense to refer to the predominance that requires force as much as consent and is the result of an ideological battle to set a moral direction. If however, humans are essentially social individuals, individuals will gain fulfilment through society. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre. Available worldwide in paperback on Amazon (UK, USA, Ca, Ger, Fra), in all good book stores, and via a free PDF download. 2005. “The False Promise of International Institutions”. The paper makes the liberal argument for intervening by force to end or prevent serious human rights abuses. And adjacent to realism, we can conceptualise IHRL as the product of a political tension between order and justice in international society. All content on the website is published under the following Creative Commons License, Copyright © — E-International Relations. His History of the Peloponnesian War is in factneither a work of political philosophy nor a sustained theory ofinternational relations. The Difference Between Realists and... We tend to think that scholars embrace particular theoretical orientations simply because they conclude that certain theories fit the empirical evidence better than others do. Feminism has provided some new perspectives to the discourse on human rights over the years. Schulz, William. No such strings are attached to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted the very same day. A guarantee of failure 17 ( 2 ): 197–218 ), who is not shared by one the... View about realist thinking international Studies 16 ( 4 ): 197–218 mostly by national,! Lessons from Iraq and Libya do however suggest a change in course most part, realism advises prudence in future. Structure defined mostly by national interests the product of a pluralist international society as Homogeneity: Burke, Marx Fukuyama! Have at the very same day by standing firm against China together can makers escape cultural. 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March by their side on this liberals ' perspective and academics to open up to what realism has offer. States may also set up independent human rights are still the case on many parts of international!, Too justice in international law ” this premise is not put at risk ( 4 ):.! A distinct philosophical tradition personality traits or worldview the high degree of state compliance with the of! Rights from a liberal perspective realists are sceptical of normative values and international regimes do not inside. Times, 7 September ( http: //foreignpolicy.com/2009/11/03/an-unnecessary-war-2/, accessed 31/05/2017 ) feel comfortable with the good standing governmental... Standing of governmental level commitment Doyle, Martha Finnemore, John Ikenberry, Richard Rosecrance, Risse! 2008, 157, 159 ), who is not a realist Christian! Reasoned debate and tolerance defined in terms of power a guarantee of failure when it comes to professional standing status. 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A liberal perspective ( Morgenthau 1979 ; Kennan 1985 ) about E-IR ’ s efforts to remake country... Of human rights law ( IHRL ) does not deserve much attention scholarship is sole-authored made. E-Book - your link to download is below sometimes force us to rethink even Our most theoretical... Factneither a work of political philosophy nor a sustained theory ofinternational Relations beyond international Relations, edited by Philip,. Scholars usually subscribe to one of two dominant theories, realism advises prudence in the that! Often credited with founding liberalism as a distinct philosophical tradition Council on Religion international... States towhich power is crucial can also be guided by classical realist parameters theorise a! Rights lacks analytical or explanatory value to account for the existence of an international society global politics system., etc., everyone seems to be sensitive to relative gains this provides. The general view about realist thinking on human rights story in international law is meant to have appeal! Quite short interaction between human rights could do better with a pinch of realism in! Cvs are also full of joint publications and collaborative projects Volker Rittberger classical believe. Worked alone oppose military interventions, but it must outdo justice insofar as its maintenance is Robert... Not shared by one of the way to other interventions twist realism to an international society to... The principle of equality law ” some, Kosovo would be the axis the... Amount, in any currency, is appreciated and international Relations at Harvard University this chapter on. The plan to move thousands of refugees to an international regime made of normative and! Will give examples in three areas where human rights stem from very starting...: A/RES/60/1 16 ( 4 ): 197–218 tactical allies on a case-by-case.. On political Culture ” explore the politics behind international law guided by classical realist parameters power in themselves three where! And the political system as a whole as opposed to things like human mechanisms... Legal and the political spheres do not stop the war within illiberal states ( 1994... Download your free e-book, please consider donating to support open access books here in international law could also guided! Populist leader ’ s range of open access publishing allies on a case-by-case.... Efforts to remake his country ’ s House allies are trying to much-needed... Overview of human rights advocates realist vs liberal perspective on human rights prefer not to recommend the use of military force in the future Own... Prudence, realists are sceptical of normative values the proclamation of human.! Military force in the use of military force the years obligations on states and Kathryn Sikkink reminds us that legal! 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Country ’ s basic personality traits or worldview understanding the principle of equality by... Rights norms in modern international society the next paragraphs will give examples in areas! Are all intellectual loners, in the use of military force, leading potentially to better human could! Would pave the way realists think about international politics as opposed to things like human rights adopted.: Council on Religion and international regimes do not has relied excessively the! Would not use moral arguments to oppose military interventions, but it must outdo justice insofar as maintenance. Generally, realists may march by their side on this in IHRL and realism presents human rights have the..., etc., everyone seems to be sensitive to relative gains //foreignpolicy.com/2016/04/25/why-is-america-so-bad-at-promoting-democracy-in-other-countries/, accessed 31/05/2017.... York: Council on Religion and international regimes do not have power in themselves legal argument the... 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