Realist theory of international relations and environmental crisis

Avoiding to "explain what things should be" and aiming to "explain things as how they are", realism is the most widely used theory in the International Relations discipline. According to realist theory, which asserts that the main purpose of states is to survive in the anarchic international environment, the most "real" threats that endanger a state's survival are military threats. However, the anthropogenic environmental degradation, whose destructive power has increased exponentially since the Industrial Revolution, has reached a level that can be defined as an "environmental crisis" in the 21st century. The environmental crisis has brought along many threats –especially the global climate change- that endanger the existence of all biological life on the planet. Global warming, melting polar glaciers, rising sea levels, depletion of water resources and the disruption of global food supply are causing the planet to lose the land suitable for human life and agriculture; the risk of global temperature averages exceeding the habitable level is becoming increasingly apparent. Moreover, the current effects of the environmental crisis and the problems it will cause in the future are demonstrated by empirical data on which there is a wide scientific consensus. Thus, the environmental crisis possesses many "real" existential threats against the international system and the states, directly affecting the core theoretical assumptions and mechanisms of realism in the process. However, realist theory defines environmental problems as a "low politics" issue through the "high politics-low politics" dichotomy. Defining the relationship between realism and environment with an anthropogenic perspective creates a great theoretical inconsistency, one which can be fixed by adopting an ecocentric approach to the environment within realist theory. Due to the strong connection between realism and the International Relations discipline, an ecocentric change in realist paradigm can help reduce the effects of the climate crisis and fasten global adaptation policies. An approach built on the Anthropocene eschatology, planetary realism can be an effective road map for the implementation of the proposed and "necessary" change in realism. Keywords: Realism, survival, existential threat, Anthropocene, environmental crisis