How Realism Waltzed Off: Liberalism and Decisionmaking in Kenneth Waltz's Neorealism

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Bessner ◽  
Nicolas Guilhot
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Traditional Form ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Do So

Neorealism is one of the most influential theories of international relations, and its first theorist, Kenneth Waltz, a giant of the discipline. But why did Waltz move from a rather traditional form of classical realist political theory in the 1950s to neorealism in the 1970s? A possible answer is that Waltz's Theory of International Politics was his attempt to reconceive classical realism in a liberal form. Classical realism paid a great deal of attention to decisionmaking and statesmanship, and concomitantly asserted a nostalgic, anti-liberal political ideology. Neorealism, by contrast, dismissed the issue of foreign policymaking and decisionmaking. This shift reflected Waltz's desire to reconcile his acceptance of classical realism's tenets with his political commitment to liberalism. To do so, Waltz incorporated cybernetics and systems theory into Theory of International Politics, which allowed him to develop a theory of international relations no longer burdened with the problem of decisionmaking.

The Marxist Critique of International Political Theory

2018 ◽  
pp. 651-663
Author(s):  
Andrew Davenport
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
International Politics ◽  
World Systems ◽  
World Systems Theory ◽  
Modern Politics ◽  
International Political Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
Leading Schools ◽  
Normative Issues

Marxism’s critique of International Political Theory (IPT) is not of specific themes but of how the latter understands international politics generally. Where IPT typically focuses on ethical and normative issues and problems of justice, Marxism has always given priority to capitalism and class, which it regards as fundamental to modern politics and as inadequately recognized within IPT. Marxism therefore rejects the view of the international as a shared “societal” space open to negotiation and compromise, and instead emphasizes irreconcilable conflict and exploitation. Through its leading schools of Imperialism, World Systems Theory, and Neo-Gramscian theory, Marxism has provided accounts of international politics that strongly contrast with the concerns of IPT. However, a potentially more far-reaching line of critique, drawing upon Marx’s analysis of liberal forms, remains undeveloped because Marxism has not yet clarified the status of the international within its theoretical space.

1. The history and evolution of foreign policy analysis

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Classical Period ◽  
Foreign Policy Analysis ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Large Groups

This chapter traces the history and evolution of foreign policy analysis (FPA) as a subfield of international relations (IR) from its beginnings in the 1950s through its classical period until 1993. It begins with a discussion of three paradigmatic works that laid the foundation of FPA: Decision Making as an Approach to the Study of International Politics (1954), by Richard C. Snyder, H. W. Bruck, and Burton Sapin; ‘Pre-theories and Theories of Foreign Policy’ (1966), by James N. Rosenau; and Man–Milieu Relationship Hypotheses in the Context of International Politics (1956), by Harold and Margaret Sprout. These three works created three main threads of research in FPA: focusing on the decision making of small/large groups, comparative foreign policy, and psychological/sociological explanations of foreign policy. The chapter also reviews classic FPA scholarship during the period 1954–1993 and concludes with an assessment of contemporary FPA’s research agenda.

The Illusion of Power and the Disruption of Moral Norms: Thucydides' Critique of Periclean Policy

1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sara Monoson ◽  
Michael Loriaux
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Moral Conduct ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Moral Standards ◽  
Do So

Scholars in both international relations and political theory have been turning their attention to Thucydides with increasing frequency but with dissimilar questions. We draw on both traditions of inquiry to reexamine Thucydides' view of Pericles. We argue that antithetical reasoning is present in the treatment of Pericles and is manifested in the opposition between the statesman's brilliance and the infelicitous consequences of his statecraft, as become evident in the work as a whole. This antithesis undermines the claim advanced by certain figures in the History, as well as by contemporary realists, that states (statesmen) should not be held to the same moral standards as individuals because to do so subverts their capacity to conduct prudent policy. We propose that Thucydides' work suggests, instead, that it is precisely when the norms of moral conduct are disrupted that states and individuals find it next to impossible to chart a prudent course of action.

International Legal Order as an Idea

1979 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Greenwood Onuf
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Order ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Vanishing Point ◽  
Theoretical Interest ◽  
International Legal Order

International law, its masters tell us, is “the vanishing point of jurisprudence.” So must be international politics, and all of international relations, for political theory. The recurrent and directing theme in political theory is the problem of order—how it is provided, maintained, altered, and so on. Order resides in orderly relations, that is, patterned and predictable relations, among people, but is abstracted from those relations as any arrangement of norms and institutions that distributes values among people. Among peoples, political theorists favor the alternative premise that anarchy, not order, reigns. By not existing, international order needs no explaining. Evidence to the contrary can be explained away as anomalous or ephemeral, and therefore not of theoretical interest. From this follows the dominance of concern for conflict and disorder and the paucity of theory in the study of international politics.

scholarly journals Structural Realism, Classical Realism and Human Nature

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Brown
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Structural Realism ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
The Way

Kenneth Waltz's Theory of International Politics is a modern classic, and deserves to be read the way classic texts ought to be read, i.e. in context and in its own terms. Recovering the context in this case is difficult because of the changes in the discourse since 1979, but one difference between the contemporary and the current reception of the text does seem clear — Waltzian structural realism (or neorealism) is now, but was not then, seen as breaking with the traditions of classical realism. How is this discontinuity to be understood? Part of the answer lies in the rhetoric employed by participants in this debate, but, more substantively, there is a genuine disagreement between neorealism and classical realism over the role played by human nature in international relations. Waltzian neorealism appears, contrary to the tradition, to reject any major role for human nature, describing theories that emphasise this notion as `reductionist'; however, on closer examination, the picture is less clear-cut. Waltz's account of human nature can be related quite closely to the major strands in the realist genealogy, but at a tangent to them. Interestingly, and perhaps unexpectedly, it is also compatible with at least some of the findings of contemporary evolutionary psychology.

scholarly journals Interlocuting classical realism and critical theory: Negotiating ‘divides’ in international relations theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Behr ◽  
Michael C Williams
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
History Of ◽  
Common Problems ◽  
Classical Realism

The history of the discipline of International Relations is usually narrated as a succession of theories that would pursue different ontologies and epistemologies and focus on different problems. This narrative provides some structure to a multifaceted field and its diverse discussions. However, it is also highly problematic as it ignores common problems, intersections and mutual inspirations and overemphasizes divides over eventual commonalities. Rather than such overemphasis, we suggest instead negotiating between ‘IR theories’ and elaborating their shared foci and philosophies of science in order to provide new perspectives on and approaches to international politics. We here negotiate between the two theoretical movements of classical realism and critical theories that are typically treated as opposites, yet which nonetheless are characterized by shared concerns about political and social crises, modernity and humanity.

scholarly journals The study of the Middle East in the Journal International Problems between 1950 and 1990

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-281
Author(s):  
Slobodan Jankovic
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Middle East ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Scientific Journal ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Middle East Politics ◽  
The 1950S

The paper analyses articles which deal with the Middle East politics, published in International Problems - a scientific journal of the Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade. The author employs the method of content analysis to examine 12 research articles. The analysed articles are classified chronologically, by periods before and after 1956 when socialist Yugoslavia started the implementation of foreign policy based on the Non-Alignment principles (and eventually became one of the founding members of the Movement). That year also coincides more or less with the end of the Balkan Pact. The author particularly analyses ideological stances and tones used in texts, comparing them with the foreign policy of official Belgrade vis-a-vis Moscow and Washington. The author concludes that after the 1950s the revolutionary fervour was lost and the use of the Marxist framework in the analysis of the reality of international relations in the Middle East declined significantly.

The Islamic Paradigm of Nations: Toward a Neo-Classical Approach

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amr Sabet
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Good Life ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
International Community ◽  
The State ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Classical Approach ◽  
Sovereign State

As late as 1966, Martin Wight could still pose the question: “why is there no international relations theory?” By this he meant the absence of a tradition of speculation about relations between states, family of nations, or the international community, comparable to that of political theory as speculation about the state. To the extent that it did exist, it was marked by “intellectual and moral poverty” caused both by the prejudice imposed by the sovereign state and the belief in progress (Wight 1995: 15-16 &19). Unlike political theory, which has been progressivist in its concern with pursuing interests of state as “theory of the good life”, international politics as the “theory of survival” constituted the “realm of recurrence and repetition” (Wight 1995: 25 & 32). Essentially, therefore, it had nothing new to offer.

scholarly journals Exeunt Omnes? Survival, Pessimism and Time in the Work of John H. Herz

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Stevens
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Security Dilemma ◽  
Late Modernity ◽  
Human Survival ◽  
Classical Realism ◽  
Intellectual Legacy

John H. Herz (1908-2005) is better known for his theorisation of the security dilemma than for his conviction that human survival is threatened by the conditions of late modernity. This article explores extinction and survival in his work to interrogate his persistent characterisation as an incorrigible pessimist. In his preoccupation with extinction, Herz would seem a first-rank pessimist, but his intellectual commitments belie this easy categorisation. Specifically, his appeals to interdisciplinary ‘survival research’ suggest a qualified pessimism that does not foreclose on the potential of humankind to overcome structural, political and normative obstacles. This is consistent with current understandings of pessimism within the broader realist tradition. Herz expressed an ‘open’ and ‘linear’ temporality that challenges cyclical and linear-progressive temporalities inherent to realism and liberalism, respectively. Herz articulates, therefore, a ‘productive pessimism’ that charts a different path for pessimist thought beyond its pejorative connotations. This article contributes to the literature on classical realism, to a growing interest in Herz’s intellectual legacy, and to the developing appreciation of time and temporality in International Relations theory and practice. It also provides a foundation for rethinking our assumptions about pessimism and international politics.

Conclusion The Attenuation and Prevention of National Humiliation

2020 ◽  
pp. 164-184
Author(s):  
Joslyn Barnhart
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
International Competition ◽  
International Stability ◽  
The Future ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
International Behavior ◽  
Do So

This chapter provides a conclusion by placing the findings into the broader context of international politics and international relations theory. It demonstrates the utility of the theory for understanding the contemporary foreign policies of China and Russia and sheds light on why the effects of humiliation may linger in some states longer than others. The chapter draws key distinctions between the theory and predictions of humiliation and more material and security-based explanations of international behavior. It addresses questions on what can be done to ameliorate or even prevent national humiliation and why are the ameliorative strategies often not employed by other states, much to the detriment of international stability and cooperation. It emphasizes how national humiliation affects world affairs in crucial ways and how it led important periods of international competition within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and will continue to do so in the future.

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