Global Comparative Theories

What Global Comparative Theories covers

Covers the two main theories of international relations and the third that sits between them: realism on anarchy and the balance of power, liberalism on interdependence and institutions, where they divide, the society of states, and how each reads events since 2000.

The 5 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Realism: states, anarchy and the balance of powerRecall questions on states as the key actors, international anarchy and self-help, the security dilemma, the balance of power, and the criticisms made of realism.Open →
• Liberalism: morality, interdependence and global governanceRecall questions on the liberal view of human nature, complex interdependence, global governance, the growth of international organisations, and the criticisms made of liberalism.Open →
• Divisions between realism and liberalismRecall questions on where the two theories part company over human nature, power, order, conflict, institutions and sovereignty.Open →
• The anarchical society and the society of statesRecall questions on Bull's account of international society, its institutions, the role of norms and reciprocity, and the distinction between order and justice.Open →
• Evaluating realism and liberalism against events since 2000Recall questions on how each theory reads Iraq, the financial crisis, humanitarian intervention, climate negotiations, the EU and great-power competition.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Global Comparative Theories further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Realism vs Liberalism

  Realism: the account in which states compete for security under anarchy and conflict is never removed. Liberalism: the account in which trade, law and institutions make lasting cooperation between states possible.

• International anarchy vs The security dilemma

  International anarchy: the absence of any authority above states, leaving each to provide for its own survival. The security dilemma: the trap in which one state's defensive build-up alarms others and leaves everyone less safe.

• A society of states vs Complex interdependence

  A society of states: a group of states that recognise common rules and institutions governing their dealings. Complex interdependence: a condition in which states are so linked by trade and communication that force loses its use.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is realism as a theory of international relations?

   Model answer

   The view that global politics is a competition for power and security between sovereign states, driven by an unchanging self-interested human nature and conducted in the absence of any authority above the state.

2. 2

   Why do realists treat the state as the key actor in global politics?

   Model answer

   Because only states hold sovereignty — supreme authority over a territory and population — and only states command the armed force and legal standing to guarantee their own survival. Other actors operate on terms states allow.

3. 3

   What do realists mean by international anarchy?

   Model answer

   Not chaos, but the absence of any overarching authority above states. There is no world government able to enforce agreements or protect a state that is attacked.

4. 4

   What are the implications of anarchy according to realists?

   Model answer

   Each state must provide for its own security, since no one else will. That makes self-help the governing principle, breeds mutual suspicion, and turns relative advantage over rivals into the measure of success.

5. 5

   What is the security dilemma?

   Model answer

   The trap in which measures one state takes to make itself safer — building forces, forming alliances — look threatening to others, who arm in response, leaving everyone less secure despite nobody intending aggression.

6. 6

   Why is the security dilemma so hard to escape?

   Model answer

   Because intentions cannot be verified. A state can never be certain a neighbour's build-up is defensive, and the cost of guessing wrong about an aggressor is far greater than the cost of arming unnecessarily.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Global Comparative Theories revision questions

What does Global Comparative Theories cover in Edexcel A-Level Politics?

5 subtopics: realism: states, anarchy and the balance of power, liberalism: morality, interdependence and global governance, divisions between realism and liberalism, the anarchical society and the society of states and evaluating realism and liberalism against events since 2000. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Global Comparative Theories organised?

By the Edexcel 9PL0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.