Understanding Anarchy

Understanding Anarchy

Anarchy is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘absence of

government; the

state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme

power; political

disorder’. When Wendt made his point, he was not in fact referring to

anarchy as a type

of political system or lack of, more about the general idea that in

the arena of

international politics a condition of anarchy exists, and it is this

point that he is debating.

Rather than meaning there is complete lawlessness, international

politics takes place in an

arena where there is no overarching central authority above the

collection of various

sovereign states. Wendt’s point is that of a Constructivist stance, as

opposed to the

Realist view of international politics, and he is arguing that it is

ideas and beliefs that

make the world and influence how states behave, rather than the

Realist view of power

and how this and the desire for it affects the international structure

of politics. Wendt is

also arguing that if these ideas change, which they can and will do as

I will show later,

then so will the organization of international politics. To fully

understand Wendt and

what he is arguing, one must first understand Constructivism, and also

it’s opposite

theory, which Constructivists contrast their positions against,

Realism or nowadays Neo-

Realism. I will also outline the role in which states play in the

system of international

relations and politics, and also how and what restrains them in these

roles.

According to varying international relations theories, the state plays...

... middle of paper ...

...p. Sometimes theories can

be proved wrong

and others can be vindicated, as clearly shown when the Cold War ended

peacefully

between American and the USSR, showing that through states and leaders

changing and

transforming their relations and ideologies, seemingly hopeless

situations can be resolved

peacefully. This upset Realists who could never have predicted this

whilst showing that

Constructivism was a real and valid theory of modern international

relations.

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[1] The globalization of world politics- John Baylis and Steve Smith

[2] Lecture Notes - Erika Harris - University of Liverpool

[3] Ruggie 1998

[4] Krasner 2003

[5] Constructivism in International Relations: The Politics of Reality

- Maja Zehfuss