Question

"Do you think Hobbes' realist model explains well the interaction between states in today's international system? Explain and give examples of how realism plays a role in impacting the relationship between states/nations and cooperation especially in the UN decision-making."

Answer 1

Some might argue he never was, as his depiction of anarchy involves relations among individuals in a state of nature.[2]Other critics point to the changing nature of international relations (i.e., a diminution of possibilities for large-scale conflict because of the costs of war and the growing web of interdependence).[3] For these scholars Hobbes’ depiction of a anarchy is less relevant as a means of understanding international relations in the modern age. Most scholars, however, firmly believe that Hobbes discussion of the state of nature continues to ring true as a metaphor for relations among sovereign states without an overarching power that can guarantee their safety (i.e., there is no 911 in international politics). In this latter respect, Thomas Hobbes is regarded as a major intellectual precursor of realist theory, and realism is still the dominant paradigm in the study of international relations today.[4] But even realists would not deny the fact that international politics today is pervaded not only by possibilities for conflict, but by many possibilities for cooperation.