Power Politics in International Relations: A Reflection on the Obligations and Legitimacy of Authority of Major World Powers

One of the stark realities of international politics is the inequality of states in the face of professed equality as articulated in the sport and letters of international legal regimes such as the charter of the United Nations. This situational reality affirms the fact that regardless of what states profess; they cannot be regarded nor treated equally, considering the variance in their geopolitics, military, economic, political and socio-cultural matrix. Some states are major or superpowers while some are medium or small power, bringing to the fore the relational or relative nature of power subject to conditions of change. The transposition of rank and statics of states is possible with the result that states that were once great powers may become regional or medium powers and vice versa. This assertion confirms the position of the realists that power is the fundamental touchstone and a foundational tenet of the fames of international politics. This paper reflects on the concept of power politics, its pattern and the ranking of states in the international system. Its central thesis discusses the major obligations of major world powers and the legitimacy of their authority in the game of global politics since the emergence of nation-states in 1648 and the Congress of Vienna of 1815. The paper argues that the idea of power politics rests on the maxim that power remains an instrument of national security and sometimes a tool of aggression by states. The research was the adoption of primary and secondary studies. This information was derived thereof were collected and analysed before their usage with the application of an analytical approach. The paper concludes that the history of international politics is the history of power. Politics, an appreciation of Thrasy’s maxim is that “Justice is the interest of the stronger or might is right”.