Realism and World Politics
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REALISM AND WORLD POLITICS This book contributes to the rethinking of realism through multiple analyses of the keys works of Kenneth Waltz, arguing that a sophisticated appreciation of realism is needed to truly understand World Politics and International Relations. Bringing together a theoretically varied group of leading scholars from both sides of the Atlantic, this book is an outstanding appreciation of the work of realism’s most important theorist since the Second World War, and the persistent themes thrown up by his work over a half-century. The contributors do not engage with Waltz’s work as slavish disciples, but rather as positive critics, recognising its decisive significance in International Relations, while using the process of critical engage- ment to search for new or renewed understandings of unfolding global situations and new insights into long-standing problems of theory-building. The book will be of great interest to students of IR, foreign policy, security studies and politics. Ken Booth is Senior Research Associate in the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, where he was formerly E.H Carr Professor and Head. He is editor of the journal International Relations and author/editor of over 20 books on International Relations and Security Studies. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences. ‘In this fine volume, Ken Booth has brought together leading theorists of international politics to assess the work of Kenneth Waltz. These excellent essays clearly demonstrate how profound and enduring Waltz's influence has been on the study of international politics. I learned much from reading these essays, and I know others will also.’ Prof. Robert J. Art, Brandeis University, USA ‘The end of the Cold War, we were told, dealt a death blow to Realism in International Relations. Recent work on Carr and Morgenthau – and now this outstanding volume on Waltz brought to us by one of the major figures in the field – proves otherwise. An indispensable work on the single most important post-war figure in the field of International Relations. Essential reading.’ Prof. Michael Cox, London School of Economics, UK ‘If you want to understand realism you must read Kenneth Waltz. If you want to understand realism and Kenneth Waltz, you must read this book. Its star- studded cast-list ensures that no angle of the subject is left uncovered.’ Prof. Christopher Hill, University of Cambridge, UK ‘Realism and World Politics is a critical but appreciative analysis of Waltz’s thinking from Man, the State, and War through Theory of International Politics and beyond. No thinker since 1979 has so captured the imagination and critical thinking of the field of IR as Waltz. With the advantage of hindsight, the contributors show that there is still much to learn from Waltz, much to build on, and much to ponder. Followers and critics alike will want to read this book.’ Prof. John A. Vasquez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA REALISM AND WORLD POLITICS Edited by Ken Booth First published 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2011 Ken Booth for selection and editorial matter, individual contributors; their contributions The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Realism and world politics / edited by Ken Booth. p. cm. 1. International relations. 2. Realism—Political aspects. 3. World politics. I. Booth, Ken, 1943– JZ1307.R43 2010 327.101—dc22 2010027329 ISBN 0-203-83396-1 Master e-book ISBN ISBN13: 978–0–415–57057–2 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–57058–9 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–83396–4 (ebk) This book is dedicated to KENNETH N.WALTZ Our indispensable* theorist * indispensable adj. 1. Incapable of being dispensed with; essential; required. 2. Incapable of being set aside or escaped; inevitable . – n. An indispensable person or thing . Indispensable even more specifically . [than essential or vital] denotes that which cannot be sacrificed. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language CONTENTS List of contributors xi Foreword: Kenneth Waltz xv Preface xvii 1 Realism redux: contexts, concepts, contests 1 Ken Booth PART I Political ideas in Waltzian realism 15 2 Anarchy and violence interdependence 17 Daniel Deudney 3 Bringing realism to American liberalism:Waltz and the process of Cold War adjustment 35 Michael Foley 4 The politics of theory:Waltz,realism and democracy 50 Michael C.Williams PART II Challenges to structural realist theory 65 5 Waltz’s theory of theory: the pictorial challenge to mainstream IR 67 Ole Wæver viii Contents 6 Structure? What structure? 89 Nicholas Onuf 7 ‘Big and important things’ in IR: structural realism and the neglect of changes in statehood 107 Georg Sørensen 8 Reckless states and realism 124 John J. Mearsheimer PART III Realist theories and human nature 141 9 Structural realism, classical realism and human nature 143 Chris Brown 10 Human nature and world politics: rethinking ‘man’ 158 Neta C. Crawford 11 Woman, the state, and war 177 Jean Bethke Elshtain PART IV War and security, causes and consequences 193 12 Understanding Man, the State and War 195 Hidemi Suganami 13 Lost in transition: a critical analysis of power transition theory 213 Richard Ned Lebow and Benjamin Valentino 14 Hegemony,equilibrium and counterpower: a synthetic approach 232 Cornelia Beyer 15 Beyond Waltz’s nuclear world: more trust may be better 249 Nicholas J.Wheeler Contents ix PART V Continuity and change in the international and in the world 269 16 How hierarchical can international society be? 271 Ian Clark 17 Waltz and world history: the paradox of parsimony 288 Barry Buzan and Richard Little 18 Human interconnectedness 306 Andrew Linklater PART VI Conclusion 323 19 International politics: the inconvenient truth 325 Ken Booth Index 343 CONTRIBUTORS Cornelia Beyer is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Hull. She is the author of Violent Globalisms: Conflict in Response to Empire (2008), Counterterrorism and International Power Relations: The EU, ASEAN and Hegemonic Global Governance (2010) and is presently working on An Intellectual Biography of Professor Kenneth Waltz. Ken Booth is Senior Research Associate in the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, where he was formerly E.H Carr Professor and Head. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Editor of International Relations. His latest books are Theory of World Security (2007) and The Security Dilemma (with Nicholas J. Wheeler, 2008). Chris Brown is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, and author of Sovereignty, Rights and Justice (2002), Understanding International Relations (Fourth edition, 2009), Practical Judgement and International Political Theory (2010) and numerous essays, papers and edited collections. Barry Buzan is Montague Burton Professor in the Department of International Relations, LSE and a Fellow of the British Academy. Among his books are The Logic of Anarchy (with Richard Little and Charles Jones, 1993), International Systems in World History (with Richard Little, 2000); and From International to World Society? (2004). Ian Clark is E.H. Carr Professor of International Politics at Aberystwyth University. His current project is international legitimacy, on which he has already published Legitimacy in International Society (2005) and International Legitimacy and World Society (2007). He is now completing Hegemony in International Society (2011). xii Contributors Neta C. Crawford is Professor of Political Science at Boston University. She is the author or editor of three books, including Argument and Change in World Politics (2002). Crawford has served on the editorial board of the American Political Science Review and on the Council of the American Political Science Association. Daniel Deudney is Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. His most recent book is Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village (2007). Jean Bethke Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. She is the author or editor of over twenty books, including Women and War (1995), Public Man, Private Woman (1981), and, most recently, her Gifford Lectures, Sovereignty: God, State and Self (2008). Michael Foley is Head of the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University. His most recent book is American Credo: The Place of Ideas in US Politics (2007). He is currently working on several projects related to the theories of populist politics and the position of political leadership within the international dimension. Richard Ned Lebow is the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, and Centennial Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His most recent book is Forbidden Fruit: Counterfactuals and International Relations (2010). Andrew Linklater is Woodrow Wilson Professor of International Relations at Aberystwyth University.