By taking this political science course, I have gained a deeper understanding of liberal and conservative perspectives in international politics. I have learned about the international system of states which is an anarchic system; not that they're is rampant chaos, but that there is no supreme leader of all of the states of the world. Morgenthau's six principles of Realism were those on which we focused the most. One of the biggest issues that we discussed was the concept of peace, which is defined negatively as the absence of war. Nuclear proliferation plays into this because peace is widely maintained as a result of certain nation-states stockpiling nuclear weapons. Each nation-state is seen as secure because war will not be inflicted on them; as they have nuclear weapons to strike back. My eyes have been opened to the complexity of international politics and the cooperation that must exist between and among states in order for this system to perpetuate.
