Theories in International Relations
REALISM Aim/contribution •
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In the context of the 30s, to response to the perceived delusions of idealism To be sanguine and realistic about the frailty of human nature and to trace the implications for the conduct of IR To render IR a rigorous and dispassionate science of world politics Intellectual Forebears Thucydides Hobbes Machiavelli
Key assumptions
Key themes
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The realm of IR is governed by objective laws which is rooted in human nature
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Study of IR is the study of the interaction between sovereign states
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The pursuit of power by individuals and states is ubiquitous and unavoidable --- thus, conflict and competition is endemic
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The self-interested behavior of states in the absence of any overarching authority on a global scale produces a condition of anarchy
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The state is sovereign and the natural unit of analysis in IR since states recognize no authority above themselves and are autonomous of non-state actors and structures
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States are unified actors, motivated exclusively by considerations of national interest
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National interests are objective
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The principal national interests are survival/security
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There is total separation of domestic and international politics with the former subordinated to the latter
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In so far as conflict is avoided, this is not because of the pacific intentions of states but precisely because of the balance produced by the aggressive pursuit of power and security by states
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It is naïve to assume that cooperation rather than conflict is the natural condition of world politics
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The evolution of world politics is cyclical, characterized by timeless laws rooted in human nature
Key concepts
Silences& limitations
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limited attention to the role of nonstate actors
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little or no consideration to economic processes
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relies on an impoverished conception of human nature and implausible assumptions
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narrowly statecentric
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less an accurate theory of world politics that the image in and through which world politics was made --- hence, ‘nothing but a rationalization of CW politics’ (Hoffman, 1977)
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Security Sovereignty National interests Power politics
Seminal Works EH Carr, The Twenty Years Crisis (1939) Hans Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations (1948)
NEO-REALISM Aim/contribution
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Key assumptions
To produce a more systematic, rigorous and structural account of IR in the realist tradition
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To liberate realism from essentialist and universal assumptions of human nature
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To provide a deductive science of world politics on the basis of parsimonious assumptions about the international system
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World politics can be analyzed if states were unitary rational actors seeking to maximize their expected utility The context in which states find themselves --- a condition of anarchy --determines the content of the rationality they exhibit The behavior of states can be explained exclusively in terms of the structure of the international system itself, since states are rational and in any given setting there is only one optimal course of action open to them
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The state is again sovereign and the natural unit of analysis in IR
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However, the role of international institutions in the governance of IR cannot be overlooked
Intellectual Forebears Same as realists
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States are, again, unified actors, motivated solely by considerations of national interests
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States seek relative rather than absolute gains
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The anarchical structure of the international system compels states to act as they do: ordering principle; identical character of units in the system; differences in capabilities Accordingly, conflict is a consequence not of state belligerence but of the pursuit of national interest under conditions of anarchy Though states are inherently conflictual and competitive, actual conflict can be averted in situations in which there is a balance of power Though there is always a tendency to instability in the international system, this can be attenuated if a dominant state assumed a leadership (or hegemonic) role Under such conditions of hegemonic stability international institutions can serve to provide a secure basis for cooperation between nations, such as is evidenced in the international economic system which developed in the post-war period
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Balance of power
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Relative (as opposed to absolute) gains
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Silences& limitations
Seminal Works
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lacks clarity about the conditions of cooperation and conflict in the international system
Charles Kindleberger, The World in Depression 19291939 (1973)
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incapable of either predicting or explaining the end of the CW despite its focus on BOP within the international system
Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics (1979)
Hegemonic stability
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state-centric
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displays very limited and impoverished notion of state agency
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relies on a series of implausible assumptions about the unity and rationality of the state
Robert Gilpin, War and Change in World Politics (1981) JL Mearsheimer, “Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War” (1990)
LIBERALISM Aim/contribution •
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To provide a more positive (though contrasting) view of human nature: ethical view: man as enjoyer & exerter of his uniquely human attributes or capacities (liberal democracy & HR) market view: individualist concept of mas as essentially consumer of utilities, an infinite desirer and infinite appropriator (liberal capitalism & free markets)
Intellectual Forebears
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Kant Grotius
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Liberal internationalism: internal effecting external
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Liberalism institutionalism: external affecting internal where states are drawn to think in rational terms because institutions impinge them to do so
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War is the cancer of the body politics and can only be cured by democracy and free trade
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Comparative advantage
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Democratic peace
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Obsolescence of war
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HR Free markets Cooperation
Silences& limitations
Seminal Works Doyle, “Liberalism in World Politics (1986) Mueller, Retreat from Doomsday (1989) Giddens, The Nation-State and Violence (1985) Rawls, The Law of Peoples (1991)
NEO-LIBERALISM Aim/contribution •
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To counter the state-centrism of realism and neorealism and to reinsert economic dynamics in IR To explore the possibilities for cooperation within the international system To explore the implications of a more flexible and positive view of human nature
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individuals and states, though rational, have the capacity to solve problems through collective action
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international cooperation for mutual advantage is both desirable and possible
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actors other than states play a central role in international events
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KEY CONCEPTS • • • • •
interdependence/ complex interdependence absolute (as opposed to relative) gains cooperation international regimes trading state rather than military state (Rosecrance)
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power within the international system is diffused and fluid
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liberal democratic states do not wage war upon one another (the doctrine of democratic peace)
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• Intellectual Forebears same as liberals
states cannot be conceptualized as unified actors but are themselves multi-centric and subject to a variety of competing domestic and international pressures
military force is by no means the only, or the most effective, instrument of foreign policy states seek absolute rather than relative gains
Key themes
Silences& limitations
Seminal Works
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an advanced international division of labor within the world economy encourages relations of interdependence and cooperation between nations which are mutually advantageous
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Lack clarity about conditions under which we should expect cooperation and conflict
Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye, Power and Interdependence (1977)
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the condition of complex interdependence which characterizes the international system renders national economies ever more sensitive and vulnerable to events in other countries
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For realist and neorealists, liberalism and neo-liberalism adopt a naïve and utopian conception of both human nature and possibilities for international cooperation
James Rosenau, Turbulence in World Politics (1990)
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this entails a significant loss of state capacity an autonomy
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there is complex relationship between domestic and international politics with no clear or consistent hierarchy
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international institutions and organizations, though in some sense themselves the product of state action, may come to assume an independent identity and display agency in their own right; institutions may assume the role of encouraging cooperative habits, monitoring compliance and sanctioning defectors
Tend to exaggerate the role of international institutions, the extent of globalization and the limited capacity of the state
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Tends to legitimate the status quo
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The empirical evidence does not seem to confirm the democratic peace thesis --- democratic states can be quite belligerent
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rational calculations (rational choice and game theoretics) where cooperation can occur without a hegemon
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neoliberalism as economic liberalism on a global scale; favors free play of market forces, minimal role of the state in economic life, roll back welfare state
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challenge to comparative advantage: internationalization of production, mobility of capital and dominance of TNCs
Joseph Nye, Understanding International Conflicts (1993)
MARXISM Aim/contribution •
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To provide a second image of IR which believed that the rise of socialist as opposed to capitalist regimes would end conflict between states (Linklater)
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To study global inequality with an emphasis on the internationalization of relations of production and on the forms of global governance which perpetuate inequalities of power and wealth
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Ushered in neoMarxism (via dependency theory and WST) as well as critical theory, Gramscian and neoGranscian thinking
Intellectual Forebears
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Key assumptions
Marx Engels
Through revolutionary action, the international proletariat would embed the Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity in an entirely new kind of world order which would free all human beings from exploitation and domination Combination of a powerful analysis of the whole development of human history with a detailed study of the evolution of capitalism and the prospects for universal emancipation
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The logic of expansionism: ‘to conquer the whole earth for its markets International sentiments are largely normative or a visionary project that is based on actual observations of domestic reality Study of imperialism as a critique of the liberal proposition that late capitalism was committed to free trade internationalism which would lead to peace between nations Fate of capitalism is to experience frequent crisis
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class struggle
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national bourgeoisie that controlled the various systems of government
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cosmopolitan proletariat
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emancipatory intent of international political economy
Silences& limitations
Seminal Works
Underestimated the impact of nationalism, the state and war, BOP, IL and diplomacy on the structure of world politics
V. Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (1972) Antonio Gramsci, Notes from Prison Notebooks F. Halliday, Rethinking IR, 1994 J. Maclean, “Marxism and IR: A Strange Case of Mutual Neglect” (1988) J. Derrida, Spectres of Marx: The State of Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International (1994)
Alternative Theories in International Relations
Rational (English School of IR) Aim/contribution •
To occupy a middle ground between realism and idealism
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To view international politics as a society of states
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To advance the idea of IR as a game that is partly distributive and partly productive
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To argue for the multidimensionality of international society that can find some common ground between radically different and mutually suspicious states
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domestic politics as the sphere of the good life and international politics as the real of security and survival (Wight) The world is composed of several political organizations: statesystems, empires, society states
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the international system is not a state of war
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the international state system becomes international societies because members develop common culture and mutual interests
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the key parameter would be the common culture among states in the system as maintained by diplomacy, international law, institutions and commerce
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The primary actors in the international system are sovereign ‘states’ --- city states or nation states In IR, there is a ‘system of states’ whenever 2 or more states have sufficient contact between them and have sufficient impact of each other’s decisions There is ‘anarchy’ in the international system, meaning there is no common government States in the international system exist in an ‘international society’ in which they recognize the common interest and common values forming a society in a sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of rules governing relations with one another and share in the workings of the common institutions
Key concepts
Silences& limitations
state system (conflict)
Seen as the British variant of realism
international society
Offers an apology for a society of states which safeguards the privileges of leading powers
world society (where people are bound by ideas, ideologies and interests
Intellectual Forebears
Grotius (solidarism; distinction between just and unjust wars) Vattel (pluralism; states do not exhibit solidarity but are capable of agreeing for minimum puposes
Seminal Works Martin Wight, Why there is no International Theory (1966) Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (1984) Adam Watson, “Hedley Bull, State Systems and International Societies” (1987)
Alternative Theories in International Relations
Critical Theory Aim/contribution •
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To draw attention to the relationship of knowledge and society To recognize theories as always embedded in social and political life To take society as the object of analysis To recognize the political nature of knowledge claims and thus need to reflect on theory itself ‘Knowledge (theory) is always for someone and for some purpose’ (Cox) To radically rethink about the normative foundations of global politics
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the purpose of being critical is to improve human existence there is a need to react to dogmatism informed by the traditions of hermeneutic and ideologiekritik theory as an emancipatory project must critique dogmatism of traditional modes of theorizing starts from the conviction that cognitive processes themselves are subject to political interests and ought to be critically evaluated rules out the possibility of objective knowledge and in its place is the promotion of theoretical reflexivity the task of the political theorist is to explain and criticize the present political order in terms of the principles presupposed by and embedded in its own political, legal and cultural practices and institutions; ‘immanent critique’ or critical engagement with the background of normative assumptions that structure our ethical judgments (Linklater)
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Society itself as its object of analysis
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Reflection on theory (self-reflexivity)
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Epistemological questions regarding the justification and verification of knowledge claims, the methodology applied, the scope and purpose of inquiry, and ontology questions regarding the nature of the social actors and other historical formations and structures in IR
Key concepts critique of particularism and social exclusion
Silences -
sociological dimensions of states, social forces and changing world orders
Seminal Works Robert Cox, “Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond IR Theory” (1981) Karin Fierke, Changing Games, Changing Strategies: Critical Investigations of Security (1998)
discourse ethics
Stephen Gill, Gramsci, Historical Materialism and IR (1993) IntellectualForebears Frankfurt school: - Adorno - Marcuse - Lowenthal - Habermas - Horkheimer
Kimberly Hutchings, International Political Theory: Rethinking Ethics in a Global Era (1999) Mark Neufeld, “Thinking Ethically --- Thinking Critically” (2000) Richard Shapcott, “Beyond the Cosmopolitan/ Communitarian Divide” (2000)
Alternative Theories in International Relations
Constructivism Aim/contribution •
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reinvigorated normative theorizing in IR
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To open up a ‘middle way’ (Adler) between rationalism (rational choice theory) and postmodernism
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To explore the implications of acknowledging that potential realities are socially constructed and of according ideas an independent role in the analysis of IR To explore the implications of replacing rationalism’s logic of instrumental rationality with a more sociological conception of agency To explore the implications of treating interests and preferences as social constructions rather than as objectively given
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our beliefs play a crucial role in the construction of our reality
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the social and political world is not a given but an inherently intersubjective domain --a product of social construction there is no objective social or political reality independent of our understanding of it --there is no social realm independent of human activity ideational factors may be accorded as significant role in IR as material factors for most constructivist, positivism cannot be reconciled with an emphasis upon the significance of intersubjective understanding
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‘Anarchy is what states make of it’ (Wendt) – the structure of the international system does not dictate state behavior; it is the interaction and intersubjective understandings of states which gives rise to the condition of anarchy assesses the transformative impact of novel social constructions (i.e. EU) on the state system emphasizes the importance of national norms on international politics and international norms on national politics emphasizes the importance of discursive construction and naming in the identification and response to security threats --- threats are perceptions rather than realities that are responded to
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social construction intersubjectivi ty identity
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unified more by what they distance themselves from than by what they share for rationalists, much of what they claim theoretically, though plausible, remains either untestable to untested
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may be seeking to reconcile the irreconcilable --the choice between rationalism and postmodernism may be starker; no middle ground as proponents eventually gravitate to poles
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despite theoretical appeal, its promise is still unrealized
Seminal Works Friedrich Kratochwil, Rules, Norms and Decisions (1989) Nicholas Onuf, A World of Our Making (1989) Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics (1999)
Alternative Theories in International Relations
Postmodernism Aim/contribution •
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To cast on modernist assumptions about the ability to generate objective knowledge of social and political world To draw attention to the conceptual prisms in and through which supposedly dispassionate and neutral theories are formulated To expose the silences, implicit assumptions and universal pretensions of such theories and to reveal the power relations in whose reproduction they are complicit To explore the implications of an IR which does not rely on universal claims, privileged access to knowledge or the possibility of liberation or emancipation from
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genealogical approach: knowledge is situated at a particular time; as a consequence of heterogeneity of possible contexts and position, there can be no single truth --only competing perspectives there is no neutral vantage point from which the world can be described and analyzed objectively
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all knowledge is partial, partisan and power-serving
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knowledge claims are never neutral with respect to power relations which are, as a consequence, ubiquitous and diffuse
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there are no facts about the social and political world, only interpretations advanced from a particular vantage point the social and political world is characterized not by sameness and identity but by difference, diversity and ‘otherness’
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the identification and exploration of the way power operates in the discourses and practices of world politics the celebration of difference, diversity and plurality
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a challenge to the notion of history as ‘progress’
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the attempt to establish universal conditions for human emancipation can only serve, in practice, to replace one set of relations of domination with another --- there is no escape from tyranny
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power and knowledge in IR
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incredulity towards metanarratives
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deconstruction
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difference/ otherness
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problematizing the sovereign state: violence, boundaries, identity, statecraft
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the universal pretensions of general theories and emancipatory projects (metanarratives) is mythical power relations often function through the construction, in language, of hierarchical distinctions of identity/difference, sameness/otherness
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beyond sovereignty: problematizing the political
Silences& limitations
Seminal Works
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tendency towards nihilism, fatalism and passivity --- an abstention from judgement
RK Ashley, “Living on the Borderlines: Man, Poststructuralism and War” (1989)
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is not postmodernism’s normative respect for ‘difference’ in the end self-defeating --- precluding the taking of action to protect that difference?
David Campbell, Writing Security (1992)
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Are its implications profoundly conservative --deconstruction without the possibility of the reconstruction of al alternative?
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Internal contradictions --- is not postmodernism itself a metanarrative to end all metanarratives and hence a contradiction in terms? Tends towards pure descriptive narrative as opposed to
Intellectual Forebears Nietzche Foucault
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RJ Walker, Inside/Outside (1993) Cynthia Weber, Simulating Sovereignty (1995)
power
political analysis
Alternative Theories in International Relations
Feminism Aim/contribution •
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To introduce gender as a relevant empirical category and theoretical tool for analyzing global power relations as well as a normative standpoint from which to construct alternative world orders (True) Not just to add women in the study of world politics but to contest the exclusionary, state-centric and positivist nature of IR To deconstruct and subvert realism as the dominant ‘power politics’ explanation for post-war IR To unmask the gendered dimension of forms of
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Gender refers to the assymetrical social constructs of masculinity and femininity as opposed ostensibly ‘biological’ malefemale differences
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Exclusion of women’s lives and experiences in IR
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Women as a disadvantaged group on a world scale
Contesting the privileging of the masculine over the feminine
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Gender is a relational concept based on the analysis of masculinity and femininity, men as well as women, by foregrounding the study of mane and masculinities in IR
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Focus on the gender dynamics of capitalist expansion in the South: economic globalization being accompanied by worldwide expansion in the use of female labor Gendered construction of IOs with initiatives to mainstream gender in global governance institutions
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Gender as constitutive of IR
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Contesting the gendered dimension of sovereignty, the state, rationality
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Liberal feminism: reform; equality of women with men
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Radical feminism: patriarchy
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Marxist feminism: capitalism
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Socialist feminism: combines the dual system of class and patriarchy as sources of oppression
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Postmodern/poststructura l feminism: deconstruction and rejection of the state; the state as a discursive process
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Liberal feminism: unclear in dealing with the abstract state or the actual state; failure to understand women in varying situations; provided formal equality and not substantive equality Radical feminism: naturalizing patriarchy as the single cause of women’s oppression and thus homogenizing the oppression; failed to see the difference of nonwhite women’s experiences
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Marxist feminism: subsumed women in the category of class
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Postmodern/poststructura l feminism: too focused on discourses and lacks specificity; deconstructed category of women
Seminal Works Betty Friedan, Feminine Mystique (1962) Kate Millet, Sexual Politics (1970) Catherine MacKinnon, Feminism, Marxism, Method and the State (1987) Zillah Eisenstein, Developing a Theory of Capitalist Patriarchy and Socialist Feminism (1979) Judith Allen, Does Feminism Need a Theory of the State (1990)
oppression prevalent on world politics
