“Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!” Most famously quoted from the movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, this black and white satiric film produced and co-written by Stanley Kubrick in 1964, is a prime example of Kenneth Waltz’s Realist theories in regards to International theory. The realism that will be the focus of this paper is that of Kenneth Waltz. Kenneth Waltz presents his theory of realism, within an international system, by offering his central myth that, “Anarchy is the permissive cause of war”. Kenneth Waltz’s central myth helps answer the question as to why war happens in the first place. During the cold war, there was a heightened sense of insecurity between Russia and the United States due to presence of nuclear weapons. The Movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb used cold war tension between the two countries to tell the story of a general who went crazy and decided to unleash his fleet of nuclear bombers onto Russian military bases. The film tells the story of a deranged United States Air Force general who orders a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. United States Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper who was the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, launches a planed nuclear attack on the Soviet Union via his nuclear-armed B-52 fighter jets, which were holding at their fail-safe points, to move into Soviet airspace, based upon a twisted paranoia that the communist party was contaminating “our precious bodily fluids”. The movie follows the course of events proceeding General Jack D. Ripper’s ordered attack. In Kenneth Waltz’s book called Man, the State and War he attempted to show how realist pr... ... middle of paper ... ...r and interactions among super powers. Through Kenneth Waltz’s IR theory of realism, it becomes easier to understand the dynamics and motivations behind the characters actions. Works Cited Dr. Strangelove, Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Prod. Stanley Kubrick, Victor Lyndon, and Ken Adam. By Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George, Gilbert Taylor, Anthony Harvey, and Laurie Johnson. Perf. Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, and James Earl Jones. BLC, 1963. DVD. Waltz, Kenneth Neal. Man, the State and War: a Theoretical Analysis. Columbia U.P.; Oxford U.P, 1959. Print. Waltz, Kenneth Neal. Theory of International Politics. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 1979. Print. Weber, Cynthia. International Relations Theory: a Critical Introduction. London: Routledge, 2010. Print.
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Show MoreMany of the elements of the 2004 remake have been modernized. While the original movie placed the soldiers in Korea, the remake placed them in Kuwait. Demme did changed the location of the war, in order to appeal to current fears and suspicions. In 1962, the threat of communism was at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts. However, during 2004, only three years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, citizens were no longer concerned about communists, but rather about the Middle East. If Demme did not change the setting to Kuwait, the movie would not instill the same fear as it did in the original movie, “by outfitting the superbly insinuating basic story with a battery of up-to-the-minute concerns that readily feed on present fears and suspicions, Demme... inject[s] new life into a recently dormant genre - the paranoid thriller” (McCarthy). Raymond Shaw’s mother, Eleanor, was also given a more modern job in the remake; instead of merely being the wife of the senator who leads behind the scenes, in the remake she is the one who is the senator. Her role depicts the emerging role of women in modern politics. Demme also chose to give Major Marco’s girlfriend, Rosie, a more modern and important job as an FBI agent. By modernizing the film, Demme allows the contemporary audience to be able to better relate and understand the film.
Kubrick came across the novel Red Alert, and instead of deciding to make the work into a film that tackled the notion of nuclear war in a serious manner, he chose to make the film a satire. This was immensely risky. Only two years after the conclusion of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which nearly plunged the world into a nuclear holocaust, as the topic of nuclear war as a film subject, let alone a satire, was considered taboo and by no means socially ac...
It is the inquisitive nature of man that is primary driving force behind the Five W’s: Who, What, When, Where and Why. Though these are all meaningful pursuits in their own right, it is the purpose of this piece to shed light on the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union’s purpose, as well as the most likely causes for its manifestation. Also in question, but not out of the scope of discussion, is whether or not non-aggression pacts truly work to preserve peace, or whether they are unintentionally one of the primary fuel sources that combust to cause war amongst the nations involved. The realist holds the key to this argument. The realist perspective sits alone as being the most concise angle from which to view the events transpired. However, without understanding a bulk of the history, a moderately concise answer cannot be delivered to the reader.
The whole premise of the film is based on insubordination committed by General Jack D. Ripper. Named after the infamous serial killer of prostitutes, General Ripper claims his “loss of essence” is because of the Communist’s use of water fluoridation, a completely off-base theory by the general to explain his impotency , and uses his military status to start a cataclysmic nuclear war with Russia. This in itself is comical because that inane and inherent need to dominate and prove both physical and sexual prowess seems to exist solely in males and in Kubrick’s eyes serves as an origin for this unwarranted war between two overly capable countries. The cigar, machinegun, and pistol that Ge...
All throughout time and history people have been at war with each other at one point or another. War can, truthfully, at times be inescapable and considered by some historians as a natural instinct, an instinct that every human being possess. Throughout history mighty empires and governments have collapsed due to the damages inflicted on by a war, yet in spite of this, some have managed to face the odds and make it through, staggering along as if nothing happened. War is a true test of an empire or government’s determination to move forward, adapting using the knowledge and intellect they have acquired to their own advantage. Nevertheless, not all wars lead to fighting by physical means but instead it can lead to fighting mentally by opposing sides. One such example would be the non-traditional Cold War fought between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cold War was a time that caused an immense fear in the lives of many, and inspired novels such as 1984 by George Orwell, Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, and essays such as “You and the Atomic Bomb” by George Orwell, which are just some of the voices from this terrible time.
The possible employment of nuclear weapons between the two superpowers during the Cold War was unprecedented. The power of this stalemate shattered the paradigm of warfare and demonstrated how significant this military revolution’s effects were even at the mere threat of nuclear weapons use. Regarding this standoff between t...
This movie follows the fictional Dr. Strangelove and the US president as they struggle to avoid all out nuclear war with the Soviet Union, along with also avoiding the dreaded Soviet Doomsday Device. The countdown begins when General Ripper, who is afraid that adding florid to US water supplies is a soviet plot, calls for a all out nuclear strike on the soviet union and he is the only man who can recall it. The main argument made in this film is how the largely absurd Red Scare after World War 2 looks when viewed in a comedic way. Not only does this film highlight the Red Scare but other “hot topics” of the time, including: Fluoridation of US waters, US use of Nazi Scientists and movies sexualization of the time.
Neo-realism and Liberalism both provide adequate theories in explaining the causes of war, yet Neo-realist ideals on the structural level and states being unitary actors in order to build security, conclude that Neo-realist states act on behalf of their own self interest. The lack of collaboration with other states and balance of power among them presents a reasonable explanation on the causes of war.
The Cold War historiography, specifically the issue of nuclear deterrence has provided historians the classic dialectic of an original thesis that is challenged by an antithesis. Both then emerge in the resolution of a new synthesis. Unfortunately, each evolution of a new synthesis is quickly demolished with each political crisis and technological advance during the Cold War narrative. The traditional/orthodox views were often challenged by the conventional wisdom with the creation of synthesis or post revisionism. There appears to be a multiple historiographical trends on nuclear deterrence over the Cold War; each were dependent and shaped upon international events and technological developments. I have identified four major trends: the orthodox, the revisionist, the post revisionist, st and the New Left. Each of these different historical approaches had its proponents and opponents, both in the military as well as the political and
Jones, Peter G, War and the Novelist: Appraising the American war Novel. University of Missouri Press, 1976. 5-6. Rpt. in Literary Themes for Students, War and Peace. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 449-450. Print.
Kubrick’s derisive attitudes about war and the military are influential to the style of Dr. Strangelove. The setting locations contribute to Kubrick’s sexual allegory. The male-dominated B-52 bomber represents a phallic symbol that is eager to complete its mission and empty its precious load. The circular “War Room” is illuminated with low-key lighting, with a gleaming center of attention besieged by darkness. This represents a dark, enclosed, cave-like environment, where the men conceive their major, independent decisions. In General Ripper’s office, ...
In International Relations it is commonly accepted that there is a wide range of different theoretical approaches which attempt to provide an explanation for the different dynamics of the global political system. Realism and Liberalism are well known theories which are considered to be two of the most important theories in international relations. They are two contrasting ideas when it comes to explaining how two states relate to each other in the absence of a world government. Both theories agree that the world is in anarchy and therefore it is helpful to start with a definition of anarchy and what it implies. This essay aims to discuss the contrasts between Liberalism and Realism as well as how these two theories agree that the world is anarchy.
The prominent scholar of Political Science, Kenneth N. Waltz, founder of neorealism, has proposed controversial realist theories in his work. Publications such as "Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis", "Theory of International Politics” and “The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate,” demonstrate how Waltz's approach was motivated by the American military power. In acquaintance of this fact, the purpose of this paper is to critically analyze Waltz theoretical argument from the journal "Structural Realism after the Cold War". Firstly, this paper will indicate the author's thesis and the arguments supporting it. Secondly, limitations found in theoretical arguments will be illustrated and thirdly, synergies between the author's thesis and this analysis will be exposed.
People’s ideas and assumptions about world politics shape and construct the theories that help explain world conflicts and events. These assumptions can be classified into various known theoretical perspectives; the most dominant is political realism. Political realism is the most common theoretical approach when it is in means of foreign policy and international issues. It is known as “realpolitik” and emphasis that the most important actor in global politics is the state, which pursues self-interests, security, and growing power (Ray and Kaarbo 3). Realists generally suggest that interstate cooperation is severely limited by each state’s need to guarantee its own security in a global condition of anarchy. Political realist view international politics as a struggle for power dominated by organized violence, “All history shows that nations active in international politics are continuously preparing for, actively involved in, or recovering from organized violence in the form of war” (Kegley 94). The downside of the political realist perspective is that their emphasis on power and self-interest is their skepticism regarding the relevance of ethical norms to relations among states.
Carl von Clausewitz, “What is War?” On War. Edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret, 89-112. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976.