Dueling Realisms

1997 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Realist Theory ◽  
Common Features

International relations scholars have tended to focus on realism's common features rather than exploring potential differences. Realists do share certain assumptions and are often treated as a group, but such a broad grouping obscures systematic divisions within realist theory. Recently, some analysts have argued that it is necessary to differentiate within realism. This article builds on this line of argument. The potential, and need, to divide realism on the basis of divergent assumptions has so far been overlooked. In this article I argue that realism can be split into two competing branches by revealing latent divisions regarding a series of assumptions about state behavior. The first branch is Kenneth Waltz's well-known neorealist theory; a second branch, termed here “postclassical realism,” has yet to be delineated as a major alternative but corresponds with a number of realist analyses that cohere with one another and are incompatible with Waltzian neorealism.

Modernization of Russia in Context of Globalization

2010 ◽  
pp. 90-103
Author(s):  
G. Irishin
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Russian Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Modern Development ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Post Industrial

This publication presents regular materials of the scientific workshop "Modern Development Problems", hosted by Dr. V. Khoros, head of Center for Development and Modernization Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences. A spokesperson is V. Inozemtsev, head of Center for post-Industrial Studies at IMEMO. The paper is focused on strategies aimed at closing down the gap to a leading country. Within such approach, it is attempted to expose common features of modernizations and classify them.

Universal International Law

1993 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan I. Charney
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Legal Principles ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Uniform State ◽  
The Common ◽  
Multilateral Treaties

In this shrinking world, states are increasingly interdependent and interconnected, a development that has affected international law. Early international law dealt with bilateral relations between autonomous states. The principal subjects until well into this century were diplomatic relations, war, treaties and the law of the sea. One of the most significant developments in international law during the twentieth century has been the expanded role played by multilateral treaties addressed to the common concerns of states. Often they clarify and improve rules of international law through the process of rendering them in binding written agreements. These treaties also promote the coordination of uniform state behavior in a variety of areas. International organizations, themselves the creatures of multilateral treaties, have also assumed increasing prominence in the last half of this century. They contribute to the coordination and facilitation of contemporary international relations on the basis of legal principles.

Geopolitics, Geography, and War

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Fettweis
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
International Interaction ◽  
The Many

The study of international relations has always been multidisciplinary. Over the course of the last century, political scientists have borrowed concepts, methods, and logic from a wide range of fields—from history, psychology, economics, law, sociology, anthropology, and others—in their effort to understand why states act as they do. Few of those disciplines contributed more to the course of 20th-century international relations scholarship than geography. As the layout of the chessboard shapes the game, so do the features of the Earth provide the most basic influence upon states. That geography affects international relations is uncontroversial; what is not yet clear, however, is exactly how, under what conditions, and to what extent. After all, a board can teach only a limited amount about the nature of a game. Many theories of state behavior involve several ceteris-paribus assumptions about the setting for international interaction, even if the substantial variation in geographical endowments assures that all things will never be equal. Some states are blessed (or cursed) with a rich supply of natural resources, good ports, arable land, and temperate climate; others struggle with too little (or too much) rainfall, temperature extremes, mountain ranges or deserts, powerful neighbors, or lack of access to the sea. While the number of studies examining the effects of the constants of geography on state behavior may pale in comparison to those that focus on the variables of human interaction, international relations has not been silent about geography. What insights have come from the many investigations into the relationship between the game of international politics and the board it is played on, the surface of the Earth?

scholarly journals Realist avenues to global International Relations

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1203-1229
Author(s):  
Michiel Foulon ◽  
Gustav Meibauer
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Neoclassical Realism ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Global Perspectives ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Creative Research ◽  
Global Understanding ◽  
Scholarly Collaboration

Realism has long been criticized by global IR, but the former can contribute to the latter and thereby improve explanations of international relations. Global IR criticizes that realism supposedly applies universally, sidelines non-Western perspectives, and misunderstands much of foreign policy, grand strategy, and international affairs. Reviewing global IR’s case against realism, however, exposes avenues for realism to complement global IR. Realism can contribute to a more global understanding of international relations through its most recent variant: neoclassical realism (NCR). This newest realism allows for contextualization and historicization of drivers of state behavior. It can embrace and has already been engaging global questions and cases; global thought and concepts; and global perspectives and scholarship. Mapping 149 NCR publications produced by 96 scholars reveals a slow shift in knowledge production away from North America toward Europe and to a lesser extent Asia and Africa. Creative research designs and scholarly collaboration can put realism in fruitful conversation with global IR. This has implications for theory building and inclusive knowledge production in realism, global IR, and the wider discipline. Only when we discover new avenues for realists to travel can they contribute to a more global IR. In turn, when global IR scholars engage realism, they may be better able to address the Western versus non-Western dichotomies they challenge.

Nuclear learning and U.S.–Soviet security regimes

1987 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Nye
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Arms Race ◽  
Liberal Theory ◽  
Control Problems ◽  
Realist Theory ◽  
Force Structure ◽  
Security Relationship ◽  
The U.S

The concepts of regimes and learning have been developed in the Liberal theory of international relations, but their application has been mostly in the area of international political economy. U.S.–Soviet relations are generally explained solely in terms of Realist theory. The dichotomy is unfortunate because both strands of theory have something to contribute. Although the injunctions of an overall regime do not govern the U.S.–Soviet security relationship, it is possible to identify the injunctions and constraining effects of regimes in subissues of the security relationship. In five areas of the nuclear relationship (destructive power, control problems, proliferation, arms race stability, and deterrent force structure), it is possible to identify different degrees of learning and to see how such learning affects and is affected by the development of regimes. Looking at the U.S.–Soviet security relationship in terms of learning and regimes raises new questions and opens a research agenda which helps us to think more broadly about the processes of political change in this area.

The Gains Debate: Framing State Choice

1997 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 789-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Berejekian
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Prospect Theory ◽  
European Community ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Montreal Protocol ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
New Model ◽  
Empirical World ◽  
Relative Gains

The theoretical bifurcation of international relations theory into (neo)realist and (neo)liberal camps has resulted in a “gains debate” that says little about an empirical world in which states exhibit both relative and absolute gains pursuit. This article deploys prospect theory in an attempt to move beyond the gains debate. The intent here is synthetic. By bringing the predictions of both perspectives under a single theoretical umbrella, we can model a broader set of state behavior. The thesis developed demonstrates that states in a gains frame pursue absolute gains and are risk averse, while states in a losses frame pursue relative gains and are risk acceptant. This hypothesis is assessed against the behavior of the European Community in the formation of the Montreal Protocol, a regime intended to protect the earth's protective ozone shield. The new model accurately predicts the timing and content of shifts in EC preferences, suggesting that a synthesis of realist and liberal approaches is possible.

Norms reconstituting interests: global racial equality and U.S. sanctions against South Africa

1995 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audie Klotz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Racial Equality ◽  
Great Power ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Material Interest ◽  
Global Norms ◽  
Economic Considerations

The extraordinary success of transnational anti-apartheid activists in generating great power sanctions against South Africa offers ample evidence that norms, independent of strategic and economic considerations, are an important factor in determining states' policies. The crucial role of a strengthened global norm of racial equality in motivating U.S. anti-apartheid sanctions illustrates the limitations of conventional international relations theories, which rely primarily on structural and material interest explanations, and supports theoretically derived constructivist claims. In particular, this case suggests that analysts should examine the role of global norms in defining states' interests, rather than viewing norms solely as external constraints on state behavior.

scholarly journals Military Lawyers on the Battlefield: An Empirical Account of International Law Compliance

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Dickinson
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Level ◽  
Legal Process ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Norm Internalization ◽  
Transnational Legal Process

International law scholarship remains locked in a raging debate about the extent to which states do or do not comply with international legal norms. For years, this debate lacked empirical data altogether. International law advocates tended to assume that most nations obey most laws most of the time and proceeded to measure state activity against international norms through conventional legal analysis. In contrast, international relations realists and rational choice theorists have argued that international law is simply an epiphenomenon of other state interests with little independent power at all. Meanwhile, constructivist and transnational legal process approaches have posited that international law seeps into state behavior through psychological and sociological mechanisms of norm internalization and strategic action. But even these studies tend to remain on a theoretical level, without on-the-ground data about which factors might influence compliance in actual day-to-day settings.

scholarly journals Polish Take on Realism: Poland’s Policy Towards the Former Soviet Countries, 1991–2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
A. Szeptycki
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Realist Theory ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
States History ◽  
Post Soviet Space

This article analyzes Poland’s policy towards the former Soviet space (Poland’s Eastern policy) through the assumptions of the realist theory of international relations. The fi rst part of the article examines the realist theory in international relations (IR). The second – deals with the existing literature on Poland’s foreign policy. The third part analyses the determinants and the goals of Poland’s policy towards the post-Soviet states (history of its relations with the region, ideological determinants, security concerns, etc.). The last part inquires about the evolution of Poland’s policy till current times. The Russian Federation is perceived as a signifi cant threat by Poland. In that context, since the early 1990s, Poland has been seeking solutions to strengthen its security. It aimed to join the North Atlantic Alliance and establish a close partnership with the United States (bandwagoning). This strategy brought substantial eff ects – in 1999, Poland joined NATO, and since it has hosted allied troops. Poland also wanted to develop cooperation with Ukraine (to a lesser degree also with its other post-Soviet neighbors) and bring them closer to the Euro-Atlantic structures. This policy was, in particular, at weakening Russia’s infl uence in the region (balancing). The results of this strategy have been somewhat ambiguous, though. Ukraine has rejected Russia’s sponsored reintegration projects in the post-Soviet space. The process of reforms in that country, however, is slow and uncertain. As for other post-Soviet states, Poland has largely proven unable to infl uence the desired changes.

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