Realist Liberalism

Conventional theories such as liberalism and realism risk becoming outdated if they are unable to respond to their criticisms. Marrying both concepts results in Realist Liberalism, an approach which unites the practical aspects of both school of thoughts. John Herz argues that political relations between countries are hampered by the lack of security that ensues in a struggle for power. He attempts to bridge the gap between the two schools by promoting the idea of collective security through the elimination of power struggles from political relations. The concept,while appealing in theory is probably a little too much rainbows and sunshine to apply practically. Seperately political realism argues that security and power are interconnected and are an essential feature of international relations while idealism is of the view that harmony will eventually succeed power and channel it towards the attainment of the collective good. It is difficult to convince theorists of the feasibility of Realist Liberalism, let alone political leaders to implement the theory in practice. One of the shortcomings of the theory is the absence of application to relatable instances from history which essentially leaves Realist Liberalism short in both depth and legitimacy. Another drawback is that it is almost impossible to apply for developing countries since security concerns are a bigger source of uneasiness for them rather than the more secure bigger powers such as the United States. War ravaged and weaker states such as Iraq cannot help but feel insecure and unfortuanately the world is not an ideal place where collective good can take precedence over power in a completely uniform and unbiased fashion.