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Bin Laden' tape harangues Obama The message, entitled "a statement to the American people", was about 10 minutes long and was accompanied by a still image of Bin Laden but no video. In the message, a voice tells the US president that he is "powerless" to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The message comes just two days after the US marked the eighth anniversary of the 11 September attacks on America.

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Norman Borlaug 1914-2009 Father of the Green Movement Credited with saving the lives of at least 245 million people through genetics and an increase in farm yields. increasing the productivity of agriculture on the best farmland can help control deforestation by reducing the demand for new farmland.

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Lessons from Thucydides States are self-interested -States are concerned with their own security. For states, the world is a zero-sum game

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Power is Key Power is accumulated through a zero sum game. A self-interested state will tend to accumulate more power. Athens was quite honest at this point: they were far more powerful than the Melians.

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Justice and Honor .are bankrupt in a world based on realism. Melos were steadfast in their belief that Sparta would honor their friendship. Sparta, much like Athens, was aware of its limitations and where its power was based

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Sparta= Land power

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Raw Power This is the first IR text in many ways. It also is the basis for historical or classical realism The acquisition of power, the distribution of power and the safeguarding of power mark a large part of human history

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Hans Morganthau Politics Among Nations Outlined Six Principles of Political Realism

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One Realism is governed by objective laws in nature Realism is made through the examination of historical facts and applying them to the foreseeable future.

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Two The main signpost is interest defined in terms of power This assumption allows us to retrace and anticipate the steps a statesman will take, past, present or future A self-interested statesman will often detach this from his pre-existing philosophies or sympathies.

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Three The idea of interest is indeed the essence of politics and is unaffected by the circumstances of time and space. Interests, not ideas, dominate directly the actions of men. Max Weber The world can only be changed by manipulating the forces that have shaped the past.

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Four Realism believes that universal moral principles cannot be applied to the actions of states. Prudence- the weighing of consequences of alternative political action- is considered the supreme virtue in a realist based view of political morality

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Five Do not clothe your states political aspirations in the moral purposes of the universe. God is most definitely not on your side. Do not pretend that this is the case, moderation in opinion and policy will reflect the moderation in moral judgement.

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Six Political Realism is autonomous and distinct from other areas of the political sphere, including economists and lawyers. What may be within the rule of law or affecting the wealth of society will have no bearing on the question how does this affect the power of the nation?

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Empires versus Balancing Empires exist through conquest Athens and Sparta were involved in this during the Peloponnesian War. Sparta was an existing Empire based on slave, land power and a ridged hierarchy

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Athens Athens was an upstart Economy based on trade and a powerful navy Democracy as a form of government Sparta saw this as a threat, and decided war was the best answer.

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Sparta Wins The Peloponnesian War was won by Sparta but weakened the entire peninsula so badly that it never regained its former glory. This gave way to Alexander the Great and his Empire.

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And So on Empires look at the history of other Empires and conclude that the best way to insure their own self- interest is through conquest on either a continental, local or world scale.

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Empires Empires are interested in keeping what they have. In order to keep what they have, they might have to make war and gain more territory. So be it!

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Rome

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Looking at the Past.. Empires will look at the past to find the present. The British certainly did!

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Balancing/Equilibrium Balancing is based ensuring your opponent cannot and will not get the upper hand. The Treaty of Westphalia marked a paradigm shift in how states were treated.

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Treaty of Westphalia 1648- End of the Thirty Years War Sovereignty of the State replaced religion as the primary building block for states in Europe. Within a sovereign state, the state was the ultimate authority in matters of religion and power.

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Before Ultimate power before Westphalia in Europe rested with the Church for the Church had authority over even Kings. Henry VIII and his children found this out. The Church was deeply involved with matters of state. Holy Roman Empire, neither Holy nor Roman

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Exit Empire Westphalia was instrumental in making equilibrium the key to power. The Balance of Power would remain a feature of International Relations until at least 1992. And may very well emerge again

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Balance of Power To manage this after Napoleon the victors set up.. The Concert of Europe was in many ways a predecessor to the League of Nations and the UN Reached in 1815

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Concert of Europe It emerged because of the inability for Europe to unite against Napoleon, letting him gain the initiative, surround and conquer the much of Europe. Austria, Britain, Russia and Prussia decided to deter similar efforts by agreeing on common interests and work together to preserve the status quo. Nothing really formal, more a statement of intentions.

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Concert of Europe Was a very feeble, wobbly first step at a liberal international organization. However, it was rooted in realist principles and the dual concepts of power and self-interest. Really, how effective was it?

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Collaboration versus deterrence, Many argue that the traditional balance of power by individual states and diplomacy were far more effective than the Concert was at keeping the peace. War WAS minimized, with only minor conflicts occurring in Europe until 1914.

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Nationalism State boundaries coincide with ethnic, linguistic and or national boundaries Napoleon took advantage of this to form his Empire. Germany and Italy formed because of this new-found appreciation for similarities (1866 and 1861)

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Nation A nation is a group of people that share ethnic characteristics, language, and other aspects. We see nations like the Native Americans, Armenia, Kurds in Northern Iraq; they are alike and may or may not have their political destinies in their own hands.

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State Artificial creation May contain many nations Soviet Union is a very good example

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Nation-State A state that has a predominantly single nation of people Germany is the best example of this

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Germany Until 1866 Germany was a disparate grouping of small states. Prussia was the largest and most dominant Otto von Bismarck was the Prime Minister of Prussia

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Bismarck He engineered three wars to grab chunks of German speaking territory away from other states, like Austria in 1866 and Denmark in 1864. The Franco-Prussian war in 1870 was his crowning achievement. Basically goading France into war while acting as protector of the German states.

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Bismarck Bismarck saw France as an obstacle to total German unification. France feared a strong, united German state. Bismarck war made Germany the preeminent continental power.

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Power First In realism, power is key The bigger navy, the better rifle, the better trained army are keys to state survival, not liberal ideas. Putting your faith in institutions and ideas will, under realism, put you in the same danger as Melos.