Realism

Individual Domestic Systemic Foreign Policy

(Structure and Process) (between Domestic and
Systemic-Structural)
1. Classical realism is 1. According to realists, 1. 1.Therefore, realists see
driven by an endless a state's national international
struggle for power, interest is the most organizations as useless
which is rooted in important thing, and in and incapable of
human nature. order to survive and excercising any power
gain greater security, a over a state (which is
state has to be a direct the supreme authority).
threat to a (potential) Law, justice or global
opposition. morality has no place
while achieving goals.
This type of realism is
mainly about the
struggle for belonging,
which is often violent
2. Since over 90% of the 2. The situation in 2. 2. Another argument
Rwandan population Rwanda escalated why classical realism
consists out of the because Tutsi people explains this genocide
Hutu ethnic group, felt fear because of the well is the fact that
they obviously make rising power of Hutu global morality and
the majority of the people. This can be ethics have no place
state. As already seen as an impact that while achieving a goal.
mentioned, after the distribution of This argument is
Rwanda gained power has on a state's related to the previous
independence, the behaviour and actions. one because one
Hutu people got to cannot excercise power
power and this was in a propper way if
violated by the former they think about
elite group- the Tutsi. others.
After members of the
Rwandan Patriotic
Front forced the
president to share
power with the Tutsi,
the struggle for power
got even more visible.
Hutu wanted to be
seen as a threat to the
Tutsi, but the only
mistake they made was
waiting. Since they did
not show their power
from the beginnig, the
president at that time
was assassinated by the
 Tutsi. This was a great
reason to put fear into
the bones of the Tutsi
ethnic group. In order
to maintain their
gained power after
Rwanda was no colony
anymore, they had to
eliminate the Tutsi
people.
3. Realists like 3.Accoarding to Waltz, 3. 3. In the international
Thucydides and success is defined by arena, and in this case
Morgenthau explain strenghtening the state, between the two
seeking for power and and the only way for ethnicities, there are
war through human Rwanda to be no compromises or
nature; humans are successful is to cooperations. Before
selfish, self-interested, eliminate the people the Tutsi oppose to the
and therefore, in order who are threathening Hutu majority, the
to flourish, states act the success of the state, Hutu population
the same way. and these people are in discriminated Tutsi and
this case the Tutsi violated their rights
population. Moreover, which shows lack of
the Hutu people simply morality, and a way to
had to excercize force excercise power.
against Tutsi because
they are the majority
and leading ethnic
group within Rwanda.

4. Classical realists 4.In classical realism, 4. 4. The third and final

believe that those who war is legally, morally argument is regarding
are powerful, have to and economically the international
excercize their power accepted because if it is response to the
in order to show the in a state's interest to Rwandan genocide.
opposition how strong make war in order to Rendering to classical
they are. By saying so, get something, it is realism,
the Hutu population approved. This was the intergovernmental
had no choice but to case in Rwanda, but organizations,
eliminate the enemies the main difference is multinational
in order for them to that the struggle did corporations or non-
make the state to not happen governmental
flourish and maintain internationally, but organizations have no
their power. rather within one state. plave in the
However, if the international arena
elimination of a because the supreme
threathening minority international actors are
population will bring states, and the
success within the international arena is
state, it is acceptable. governed by anarchy.
Shortly, the cruel
 elimination of a threat
is indeed acceptable in
order to survive, gain
power and work in
favour of the state.

5. By assassinating the 5. 5. 5. In May 1994, the UN

Hutu president, the Security Council voted
Hutu population was for ma more robust
aware of the fact that force, which meant to
the Tutsi cannot be send more than 5000
seen as trustworthy troops to Rwanda.
partners, and that they However, by the time
had to pay for their try the forces arrived, the
to overthrow the genocide was over for
powerful majority multiple months.
group.
6. It is obvious that the 6. 6. 6. This shows that non-
Hutu people had no state actors are useless,
sense for morality, and are indeed
considering that they incapable of
killed over 800 000 excercising power.
people, which were Even the former UN
mainly civilians. Secretary.General told
that the failure in
Rwanda is 10 times
greater that the one of
Yugoslavia.
7. Another reason which 7. 7. 7.Besides the UN,
shows their big self- France wanted to
interest and non- intervine and help the
morality is the fact Tutsi people by
that they killed those sending their troops to
people in various epic Rwanda in late June.
ways. For example, They saved a lot of
they forced Tutsi Tutsi lives; however,
people to shoot their by doing so they
own family members helped some of the
(History.com, n.d.). genocide's plotters to
escape. This also shows
that nobody should
rely on somebody else's
help.
8. 8.Although France
helped the Tutsi
population in a way,
they did let some of the
Hutu people escape.
The International
Criminal Tribunal for
 Rwanda (ICTR) was
made in October 1994,
which aim was to bring
the ones who
participated in the
genocite to justice.
However, the process
was more difficult than
thought because many
of the participants
were unknown (Place
Pledge Union, n.d.).
Moreover, the trials
continued the next 15
years, which
demonstrates how
much but
unsuccessfully they try
to regulate this event.
9. 9.This argument
illustrates the way of
how organizations are
seen through classical
realism; non-state
actors or
intergovernmental
organizations are
useless and incapable
of helping others, and
they have no place in
the international arena
considering that states
are the supreme actors.

In general about Realism

1. By saying all of this, classical realism is indeed the best theory that explains the Rwandan
genocide through a few strong arguments.
2. To begin with, power plays the most important role in classical realism, and the seek for
power can be seen before and during the Rwandan genocide.