PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Approaches to International Relations
What do you mean by offensive and defensive realism?
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
Rk! both neorealist strands → shared anarchy / self-help / survival → split on how Intro routes much power = security R2 realism's puzzle "how much power is enough?" → two answers inside structural realism → security-sufficient vs power-maximum
Body flow
shared neorealist premises → Defensive (Waltz): security maximisers -. equilibrium Body flow not hegemony -. excess power provokes balancing + conquest costly (nationalism) → prudence = adequate power → Waltz quote -. Offensive (Mearsheimer): power maximisers → safest when strongest (intentions unverifiable) → balancing unreliable (buck-passing) → potential hegemons become actual → regional not global hegemony (oceans) → China's rise not peaceful
Counter-view
same premises, opposite prescriptions → restraint / equilibrium (defensive) vs pursuit Counter-view of dominance (offensive) → US post-Cold War overextension read as the cost of too much power vs great-power rivalry (South China Sea, Eastern Europe) read as unavoidable
Conclusion routes
Rk! disagreement is not over premises but over prudence — how much power is Conclusion routes enough k2 the two strands together map realism's range of state behaviour, restraint to dominance
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
