International Relations Theory a Critical Introduction 4Th Edition Pdf, Epub, Ebook
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The Typologies of Realism
Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 1, 2006, 109–134 doi:10.1093/cjip/pol006 The Typologies of Realism Liu Feng* and Zhang Ruizhuang Much more than a single theory, realism is a school of thought containing numerous related branches. In recent years an outpour of debate and exchange within the realist tradition has captured the attention of scholars. Many scholars have attempted to create schemes classifying the different branches and threads of realist thought that have emerged, while others have introduced a wealth of new terminology. Unfortunately, as a result of these Downloaded from efforts, realist concepts have become obfuscated, resulting in much confusion, and ultimately erecting a barrier to intellectual progress in the field. The goal of this article is to help remove this barrier by clarifying the criteria for classifying different approaches to realist thought and presenting a more coherent classification scheme that will enhance the understanding of the http://cjip.oxfordjournals.org/ relationship between various strands of realist thought. The Debate Regarding the Classification of Types of Realism Since the 1980s, a number of new schools of thought, including by guest on May 28, 2014 constructivism, critical theory and post-modernism, have critiqued, and ultimately come to challenge, traditional schools of international relations theory such as realism and liberalism. Yet, as a result of sharp differences with respect to ontology, epistemology and methodology, exchange between these new schools and the more traditional mainstream schools have been quite limited. In stark contrast with this dearth of scholarly exchange across schools of thought, the intellectual debate and exchange of ideas within the realist school have flowered, giving birth to many new branches and sub-branches of realist thought. -
Waltz's Theory of Theory
WALTZ’S THEORY OF THEORY 201 Waltz’s Theory of Theory Ole Wæver Abstract Waltz’s 1979 book, Theory of International Politics, is the most infl uential in the history of the discipline. It worked its effects to a large extent through raising the bar for what counted as theoretical work, in effect reshaping not only realism but rivals like liberalism and refl ectivism. Yet, ironically, there has been little attention paid to Waltz’s very explicit and original arguments about the nature of theory. This article explores and explicates Waltz’s theory of theory. Central attention is paid to his defi nition of theory as ‘a picture, mentally formed’ and to the radical anti-empiricism and anti-positivism of his position. Followers and critics alike have treated Waltzian neorealism as if it was at bottom a formal proposition about cause–effect relations. The extreme case of Waltz being so victorious in the discipline, and yet being so consistently misinterpreted on the question of theory, shows the power of a dominant philosophy of science in US IR, and thus the challenge facing any ambitious theorising. The article suggests a possible movement of fronts away from the ‘fourth debate’ between rationalism and refl ectivism towards one of theory against empiricism. To help this new agenda, the article introduces a key literature from the philosophy of science about the structure of theory, and particularly about the way even natural science uses theory very differently from the way IR’s mainstream thinks it does – and much more like the way Waltz wants his theory to be used. -
Neo-Classical Realism in International Relations
Asian Social Science; Vol. 12, No. 6; 2016 ISSN 1911-2017 E-ISSN 1911-2025 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Neo-classical Realism in International Relations Jalal Dehghani Firoozabadi1 & Mojtaba Zare Ashkezari1 1 Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i Universiti, Tehran, Iran Correspondence: Mojtaba Zare Ashkezari, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i Universiti, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: [email protected] Received: January 25, 2016 Accepted: February 14, 2016 Online Published: May 20, 2016 doi:10.5539/ass.v12n6p95 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v12n6p95 Abstract Neo-classical realism is result of foreign policy studies through studying both structure of international system and domestic factors and their complex interactions with each other. The main goal of neoclassical realism is to find out how distribution of power in international system, motivations and subjective structures of states toward international system shape their foreign policy. Neo-classical realists reject the idea of neo-realism in which it is argued that systemic pressures will immediately affect behaviours of units. They believe that the extend of systemic effects on states behaviour depends on relative power and also internal factors of states in anarchical system. This article is to study how neo-classical realism applies assumptions such as anarchy, effects of structure-agent, role of power in creating behaviours, national interests, survival and security in order to analyse international politics. Keywords: Neo-classical Realism, classical realism, neo-realism, levels of analysis, Structure, international relations, foreign policy 1. Introduction Neoclassical realism is used in International Relations not because of its capability of explaining different phenomena but because of its strength in emphasizing on different levels of analysis and also its avoidance from reductionist dogmatism that other theories suffer. -
Realism As Tragedy Reviewed Work(S): the Tragedy of Great Power Politics by John J
Review: Realism as Tragedy Reviewed Work(s): The Tragedy of Great Power Politics by John J. Mearsheimer Review by: Brian C. Schmidt Source: Review of International Studies, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Jul., 2004), pp. 427-441 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20097926 Accessed: 31-10-2017 23:07 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms Cambridge University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Review of International Studies This content downloaded from 86.133.137.245 on Tue, 31 Oct 2017 23:07:43 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Review of International Studies (2004), 30, 427-441 Copyright ? British International Studies Association DOI: 10.1017IS0260210504006151 Realism as tragedy BRIAN C. SCHMIDT* John J. Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: W.W. Norton, 2001). In short, the real world remains a realist world.1 In 1948, Hans J. Morgenthau wrote his classic text, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, that was largely responsible for establishing realism as the prevailing theory in the field of International Relations (IR).2 In 1979, Kenneth N Waltz wrote an immensely influential book, Theory of International Politics, that resulted in a new structural version of realism - neorealism - becoming the dominant theory in IR.3 John J. -
John J. Mearsheimer: an Offensive Realist Between Geopolitics and Power
John J. Mearsheimer: an offensive realist between geopolitics and power Peter Toft Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Østerfarimagsgade 5, DK 1019 Copenhagen K, Denmark. E-mail: [email protected] With a number of controversial publications behind him and not least his book, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, John J. Mearsheimer has firmly established himself as one of the leading contributors to the realist tradition in the study of international relations since Kenneth Waltz’s Theory of International Politics. Mearsheimer’s main innovation is his theory of ‘offensive realism’ that seeks to re-formulate Kenneth Waltz’s structural realist theory to explain from a struc- tural point of departure the sheer amount of international aggression, which may be hard to reconcile with Waltz’s more defensive realism. In this article, I focus on whether Mearsheimer succeeds in this endeavour. I argue that, despite certain weaknesses, Mearsheimer’s theoretical and empirical work represents an important addition to Waltz’s theory. Mearsheimer’s workis remarkablyclear and consistent and provides compelling answers to why, tragically, aggressive state strategies are a rational answer to life in the international system. Furthermore, Mearsheimer makes important additions to structural alliance theory and offers new important insights into the role of power and geography in world politics. Journal of International Relations and Development (2005) 8, 381–408. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jird.1800065 Keywords: great power politics; international security; John J. Mearsheimer; offensive realism; realism; security studies Introduction Dangerous security competition will inevitably re-emerge in post-Cold War Europe and Asia.1 International institutions cannot produce peace. -
The Dynamics of Russian Foreign Policy in the 2014 Crimean Crisis
THE DYNAMICS OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE 2014 CRIMEAN CRISIS ASSESSING THE EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL COMPLEXITIES By Salman Tahir Submitted to Central European University Department of International Relations and European Studies In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts International Relations and European Studies Supervisor: Professor Michael Merlingen CEU eTD Collection Word Count: 15,342 Budapest, Hungary 2015 Abstract In early 2014, Russian forces entered Crimea and after a successful referendum, annexed the territory to Russia. The dynamics of Russian foreign policy towards Crimea are complex and multifaceted. There is extensive amount of international relations literature that discusses Russian foreign policy that led to the 2014 Crimean War. Neorealists argue that this was a response to Western policies of NATO expansion, EU enlargement and democracy promotion in Eastern Europe. Constructivists blame the history of hostile relations between Russia and the West shaping a Cold War mentality, as well as the threats that Moscow believes Russian citizens faced from Ukrainian radicals and extremists after Euromaidan. Liberalism makes it all about competing economic interests of Russia and the EU. However, there are many other theoretical and empirical complexities and nuances that can help explain Putin’s decision to annex Crimea. This paper will explore the relative theoretical and empirical understandings of the international crisis in Crimea under the international relations theories of neorealism, constructivism and liberalism and disclose the variations and complexities that are inherent within and outside these explanations, as discussed by intellectuals, political experts and media. CEU eTD Collection i Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to Michael Merlingen, who was tasked with the supervision of my research by the department and whose valuable guidance is a great part of the reason I was able to conduct this research. -
Constructivism Meets Critical Realism
466572EJT20210.1177/1354066112466572European Journal of International Relations2012Fiaz EJIR Article European Journal of International Relations Constructivism meets critical 2014, Vol. 20(2) 491 –515 © The Author(s) 2012 realism: Explaining Pakistan’s Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav state practice in the DOI: 10.1177/1354066112466572 ejt.sagepub.com aftermath of 9/11 Nazya Fiaz National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan Abstract This article investigates the theoretical added-value of critical realist incursions into International Relations constructivism. While constructivism focuses on providing multi- causal explanations, its conceptual horizon and subsequent methodological framework fundamentally obscure and limit the opportunity to conceptualize social dialectic and multi-causality in world politics. In this respect, a critical realist meta-theory can provide constructivism with a greatly expanded conceptual framework that transcends material–ideational divisions, and a framework that is able to envision more clearly the process of social dialectic. Second, critical realism affords a methodological diversity that can withstand simultaneous constructivist investigations into the material, agential, ideational, or structural. Using the synthesis of critical realism and constructivism, I illustrate by way of example by employing Pakistan’s participation in the ‘war on terror’ as a case study. While constructivism can show that Pakistan’s role in the war on terror was preceded by a legitimizing narrative, it is a critical realist depth analysis that sheds new light on how a complex social reality was achieved through the convergence of multi-causal explanatory factors. Keywords Agency, constructivism, critical realism, discourse, meta-theory, multi-causality, Pakistan, social dialectic, structure, war on terror, world politics Corresponding author: Nazya Fiaz, Department of International Relations, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan. -
INRL 5008 Methodology and Theory of International Relations
INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations INRL 5008 Methodology and Theory of International Relations Dr. Nand C. Bardouille [email protected] SEMESTER I ACADEMIC YEAR 2020 – 2021 1 INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (IIR) THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, ST. AUGUSTINE Methodology and Theory of International Relations Postgraduate Diploma Course INRL 5008 Dr. Nand C. Bardouille Email: [email protected] Office hours online: Wednesday 5pm–6pm and Thursday 5pm–6pm or by appointment Class times online: Tuesdays 5pm – 8pm (5pm–6:30pm; 6:30pm–7:00pm; 7:00pm–7:45pm) Mode of Delivery This course will be delivered online, leveraging zoom teleconference, online activities and assignments. Description The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the conceptualization, understanding and application of theory in International Relations (IR). The course begins with a brief introduction on the approaches to analysis within the discipline, ontology and epistemology, methodology and so on. This prepares students, firstly, for the discussion note and later the main coursework essay, which invites them to reflect on issues of what constitutes IR and how to ' do' the discipline. Secondly, it gives students the necessary grounding with which to examine, understand and analyse the varied theoretical approaches which are addressed within the course. They include classical theories like idealism and realism. This forms the basis for consideration of mainstream IR theory, having an eye to structural realism, liberalism, neoliberal institutionalism and cosmopolitanism, and the so-called 'neo-neo' debate. -
Realism and the Common Security And
JCMS 2011 Volume 49. Number 1. pp. 23–42 Realism and the Common Security and Defence Policy*jcms_2127 23..42 STEN RYNNING University of Southern Denmark Abstract The European Union has ventured into the business of power politics with its common security and defence policy (CSDP). Realism can explain both why the EU is being pulled into this business and why it is failing to be powerful. Although realism has much to offer, it is not the dominant approach to the study of the EU and its foreign affairs because the EU is commonly perceived as capable of transcending power politics as we used to know it. The first purpose of this article is therefore to question the stereotyping of realism as a framework that only applies to great power confrontations. The second is to introduce the complexity of realist thought because realism is a house divided. The analysis first examines structural realism, then the classical realist tradition. The third and final purpose of the article is to evaluate the contributions these approaches can make to the study of the CSDP. The most pow- erful realist interpretation of the CSDP is found to be the classical one, according to which the CSDP is partly a response to international power trends but notably also the institutionalization of the weakness of European nation-states. The article defines this perspective in relation to contending realist and constructivist perspectives. It high- lights classical realism as a dynamic framework of interpretation that does not provide an image of a CSDP end-state, but rather a framework for understanding an evolving reality and for speaking truth to power. -
An Evaluation of the Constructivist Critique in International Relations
A world of their making: an evaluation of the constructivist critique in international relations Article (Published Version) Palan, Ronen (2000) A world of their making: an evaluation of the constructivist critique in international relations. Review of International Studies, 26 (4). 575 - 598. ISSN 0260-2105 This version is available from Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/12407/ This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies and may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher’s version. Please see the URL above for details on accessing the published version. Copyright and reuse: Sussex Research Online is a digital repository of the research output of the University. Copyright and all moral rights to the version of the paper presented here belong to the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. To the extent reasonable and practicable, the material made available in SRO has been checked for eligibility before being made available. Copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk Review of International -
Bridging the Gap: Toward a Realist-Constructivist Dialogue
International Studies Review (2004) 6, 337–352 THE FORUM Bridging the Gap: Toward A Realist-Constructivist Dialogue EDITED BY PATRICK THADDEUS JACKSON School of International Service, American University Editor’s Note: J. Samuel Barkin’s International Studies Review article ‘‘Realist Con- structivism’’ (2003) makes the important point that the opposition between realist and con- structivist schools of thought in international relations (IR) may not be as clear-cut as is commonly supposed. In doing so, he focuses on how certain classical realist notions are compatible with constructivist sensibilities about the role of norms and other intersubjective factors in producing social and political outcomes. In effect, Barkin proposes a fusion of certain elements of realism and constructivism to produce a novel IR perspective. Although Barkin is not the first or only scholar to advocate a more evenhanded dialogue between realism and constructivism, his piece is one of the most comprehensive attempts to articulate points of agreement between the two approaches and to delineate the contours of a ‘‘realist- constructivist’’ research program. As such, Barkin’s piece provides an excellent opportunity for exploring and elaborating the nature of and possibilities for ‘‘realist constructivism.’’ Barkin’s emphasis on the tension between normative transformation and the limits imposed by power in the international arena is one way to initiate a dialogue between realism and constructivism. The contributors to this Forum are each trying, in their different ways, to further this dialogue and to explore the possibilities raised by dissociating constructivism from the liberal tradition. They share Barkin’s basic contention that realism and constructivism are not implacably opposed. -
Scarce Differences: Toward a Material and Systemic Foundation for Offensive and Defensive Realism
Security Studies, 22:436–465, 2013 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0963-6412 print / 1556-1852 online DOI: 10.1080/09636412.2013.816125 Scarce Differences: Toward a Material and Systemic Foundation for Offensive and Defensive Realism ERIC J. HAMILTON AND BRIAN C. RATHBUN A divide has opened up between offensive and defensive realism as to the relative scarcity of security in the international system, with powerful implications for the vision each approach offers about the nature of international politics. Yet we still do not understand why the two diverge given their common neorealist foundations. This article reviews implicit, explicit, and other potential explanations of that difference—the relationship between power and security, the offense-defense balance, the prevalence and efficiency of balancing vs. bandwagoning, and the role played by uncertainty in decision- making—and finds them lacking in their ability to provide an adequate account that is systemic and structural in nature, does not violate arguments the scholars have made in practice, and does not confuse cause with effect. Finding prior efforts lacking, this article proposes that the distinction could be logically rooted in material scarcity, a familiar theme in realism historically that has been ignored in more recent formulations. Drawing a distinction between a “dangerous world” in which uncertainty is the core problem and a “competitive world” in which scarcity bedevils state relations helps explain where offensive and defensive realism both diverge and converge. Eric J. Hamilton is a PhD candidate in the Politics and International Relations Program at the University of Southern California. Brian C. Rathbun is an associate professor at the University of Southern California.