Globalization, war and peace in the theories of international relations

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Author

University Prof. Dr. Heinz Gärtner is lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna and at Danube University.Vienna, Austria

Abstract
The international environment is global and the International Relations Theories as well. There are opposing poles between realist and constructivist approaches. International Relations Theories are developing different notions about the likelihood of a big war. The contrast between geopolitics and realism on the one hand, international institutions, interdependence and interconnectedness on the other hand, mirrors the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and Immanuel Kant.
The „pluralistic security communities” of Karl Deutsch could guarantee peace through common responsibilities, accountability and values of sovereign states. The „international society” can according to Hugo Grotius be designed as „pluralist”, or according to Kant as „solidarist”. The theses of the „democratic peace” interprets Kant’s for peace striving republics as modern stable democracies. Smaller states can stay out of great power conflicts by demonstrating their usefulness in the sense of Kant’s republics that trade with one another and warrant hospitability. The international relations oscillate also in the era of globalization between association and dissociation.

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