Session 12 : Game of thrones?

                Imagine your area where you live is dominated by two criminal gangs. Those are the only two gangs in that area who have divided the land between themselves which allows them to have total control over their own respective areas. Now do they have an incentive to fight? Most people would answer no. Why? Because they do not have an incentive to deviate from this sort of equilibrium they have reached. Yes, if they do fight and one of them will eventually win, that particular party would then have control over the whole area. But since they realize that the cost incurred in the process might be way more than the benefit from fighting. Not to forget the risk involved of losing the battle. This is what in the international system can be referred to as the Bi polar system where there are two major powers struggling to increase their power but the outbreak of war is less likely. The perfect example is indeed the Cold War between United States and Russia. Now imagine more criminal gangs entering into that two criminal party system. This might result in the two original parties having to deal with less control, less influence, less profits and the list goes on. Now there is an incentive to fight because they would want to eliminate the new third party and return to the original equilibrium. This can be referred to as the Multipolar system in the International Relations. Now that we have seen how the outbreak of war is more likely in Multipolar system than in a bi polar system, it is also important to see why war breaks out in the first place

               

                Mearsheimer in his article talks about Offensive Realism. What is Offensive Realism? It is a scenario where states are in constant search for greater power at the expense of other states. Their behavior is aggressive and ruthless to say the least. But what conditions drive these actions. Is it the absence of a centralized authority? Increasing military capabilities? The international structure (Bi-polar or MultiPolar)? Well the answer to these questions is not that simple. There are multiple real life examples in history to answer the questions posted above. But the most important part of Mearsheimer is that he gives a reality check that why the struggle for power exists and how it will continue to exist. Why? Because at the end of the survival is the main aim of every state. That is the bottom line. At the end of the state will always act in a way that increases its own survival chances even though it’s at the expense of other states. Moreover, most important is the notion that it is almost impossible to achieve perpetual peace. The paragraph above shows how it is less likely in Bi-polar system but even in that one can never know what the intentions of other states are. Therefore, the dynamics of international area will always be described as a game of thrones.