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VICPoliticsQuick questions
Unit 4: Global challenges
Quick questions on Realism and cosmopolitanism in global ethics: VCE Politics
10short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is realism?Show answer
Realism holds that states are the primary actors in an anarchic international system with no authority above them. From this perspective:
What is cosmopolitanism?Show answer
Cosmopolitanism holds that all human beings belong to a single moral community and have obligations to one another regardless of borders. From this perspective:
What is using the perspectives to judge?Show answer
The best answers do not just label positions; they use the contrast to explain why responses succeed or fail. Responses driven by cosmopolitan principle often founder on realist resistance, because states protect sovereignty and interest. Recognising this tension explains why the international community sets ambitious norms yet enforces them unevenly.
What is step 1. State the cosmopolitan view?Show answer
When a state fails to protect its people from mass atrocities, the international community has a moral duty to act, because obligations extend to all humans regardless of borders.
What is step 2. State the realist view?Show answer
Sovereignty and non-intervention are paramount; states should act abroad only in self-defence or clear national interest, and intervention sets dangerous precedents.
What is step 3. Show the tension?Show answer
The responsibility to protect reflects the cosmopolitan view, but its selective, inconsistent application reflects realist constraints, because powerful states act only when interests align.
What is step 4. Judge?Show answer
Disagreement is principled, not merely practical: it stems from opposed views of what states owe outsiders, which is why intervention remains contested.
What is q1?Show answer
Define realism and cosmopolitanism as ethical perspectives. [4 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
Explain how realist and cosmopolitan perspectives produce opposite positions on one global ethical issue. [6 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Analyse how the tension between realism and cosmopolitanism explains the uneven effectiveness of responses to a global ethical issue. [10 marks]