Anarchy as the founding principle of International Relations

Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Politics - General and Theories of International Politics, grade: C, Macquarie University, course: IRPG 841 Theory of International Relations, language: English, abstract: This essay will argue that anarchy is indeed an important characteristic, but certainly not the basic premise of international relations as a discipline. To support this, the papers first section will be a brief examination of the relevance and application of anarchy in different theoretical approaches. Starting with those strongly based on anarchy, the paper will progress to approaches which do not concentrate on anarchy. These theories will be limited only to those closely linked to the neorealist line of thought. Finally the paper will present and evaluate critical approaches to the perception of anarchy as the founding principle of IR.