Contemporary Developments in International

Relations Theory
By Reinhard Meyers

Contents:
Block I: Concepts, Roles and Functions of Theories in International
Relations: Changing Demands, Expectations and Promises ___________ 4
I.1) Starting assumptions_________________________________________ 4
I.2) Metatheory - criteria for theory classification ___________________ 11
I.3) Grand theories _____________________________________________ 13
I. 4) Theory - a fresh look at the concept ___________________________ 19
Block II: Theory development in International Relations. Ontological Base
Lines_________________________________________________________ 21
II. 1) The Debate between Liberal Internationalism/Idealism and Realism 24
II. 2) The Debate between Globalism, Neo-Realism and other Structural
Theories ______________________________________________________ 47
Block III: Epistemological Superstructures - the debate between
Understanding and Explanation __________________________________ 53
Block IV: Recent Theory Development in International Relations - Theory
and the Recasting of the Enlightenment project ____________________ 58

Illustrationindex:
Fig. 1: Theory: the conceptual field..................................................................................... 7
Fig. 2: Theory: Fields of formal meaning ............................................................................ 8
Fig. 3: Theory: Typical Functions....................................................................................... 9
Fig. 4: Grand Theories of International Relations ............................................................ 10
Fig. 5: Genetic Theory Development in I.R. ...................................................................... 14
Fig. 6: Ancestral Lineages of IR Theory............................................................................ 15
Fig. 7: Grand Theories - Functions.................................................................................... 16
Fig. 8: Importance of scientific World Views .................................................................... 18
Fig. 9: An alternative concept of theory............................................................................ 20
Fig. 10: The Realism - Idealism Duopoly in the development of I. R. theory ................. 21
Fig. 11: Idealism and Realism: Main Contrasts ................................................................ 25
Fig. 12: Liberal Internationalism: Premisses .................................................................... 28
Fig. 13: Liberal Internationalism: Genealogy (I) ............................................................... 30
Fig. 14: Liberal Internationalism: Genealogy (II) .............................................................. 32
Fig. 15: Liberal Internationalism: Promises...................................................................... 34
Fig. 16: Realism - Premisses.............................................................................................. 36
Fig. 17: Classical Realism Genesis ................................................................................ 38
Fig. 18: Die Genese des Territorialstaats.......................................................................... 39
Fig. 19: The Modern Territorial State................................................................................. 41
Fig. 20: Characteristics of Realism and Neo-Realism ..................................................... 44
Fig. 21: Comparison between premisses of Globalism and characteristic properties of
Structural theories ........................................................................................................ 50
Fig. 22: The methodological-epistemological/ontological field of I.R.theory ................ 53
Fig. 23: Basic positions of the debate between Traditionalism and Scientism............. 55
Fig. 24: Positivist Orthodoxy in IR Theory: Basic Characteristics ................................. 59

Block I: Concepts, Roles and Functions of Theories in

International Relations: Changing Demands, Expectations and
Promises
I.1) Starting assumptions
Looking back at the development of International Relations as a scientific
subject over the last 50 years or so, we can make a puzzling observation
(based on Dougherty/Pfaltzgraff 2001; Schieder/Spindler 2003; Burchill et al.
2005, Baylis/Smith 2005): that of a multiplicity of meanings of the concept
of theory:
1. with regard to substance, "theory" represents the focus of a whole field or
range of uses, bundling together the history of international ideas, the
history of I.R. as a scientific discipline, the social philosophy of I.R., and
the epistemology and methodology of I.R. (cf.Fig.1)
2. with regard to form, definitions of "theory" depend on (logical) structure,
range, and (explanatory or predictive) performance of abstract constructs
which are imposed on a selected body of phenomena, objects, events, or
processes (cf.Fig.2)
3. with regard to function, definitions of "theory" depend on the particular
task they fulfill in the process of (scientific) discovery, perception, and
knowledge formation (cf.Fig.3).
Despite this bewildering array of theory concepts in I.R., up to the 1980s, the
discipline agreed on a minimal definition of "theory":
"International theory is that part of the study of international relations which
offers descriptive and explanatory statements about patterns, regularities, and
change in structural properties and processes of international systems and their
major component units. It is concerned with classes of events (typical behavior
or trends), not with specific occurences." ... It delineates a problem area (the
dependent variable) and specifies a range of causal variables. Analysis is
designed to transcend time, location, event, and personality. ... "Though not
presented in a formally rigorous fashion, it nevertheless has the form of most
general social scientific propositions: a change in variable or property x
produces a major (new) consequence in the pattern of behavior y. But the
format of the statement is not the critical question. It is, rather, the scope of the
proposition: theorists seek to discover relationships and causes of change in
them for classes of events, not for particulars." (K.J.Holsti: Change in the
International System, Aldershot 1991:166)

As may well be seen, the character of this minimal definition is epistemological

rather than ontological: it does not contain any reference a) to the actors of
I.R., b) to the milieu, to the structure of the international environment in the
context of which actors act. However, up to the 1980s there was also a wide
consensus as to the ontological context of I.R. - though the formal character of
that consensus must be stressed:
Actor

Milieu

Individual

World Society

Nation State

State System

Economic Class

International
Class Society
Transnational
Society

Individual or
Societal Actors

Structural
Principle
Universalistic
Constitution
Vertical
Segmentation
Horizontal
Layering
Boundary
transgressing
Network
Formation

Image/Model
World Order
(Federation)
Billiard Ball Model
Layer Cake Model
Cobweb Model

It is my contention that the fissiparous state of present-day I.R. theory is not due
- at least not in the first instance - to a large number of contending methodologies or canons of proof of scientific statements, but much more so to the
competitive coexistence of a number of ontological referents - call them
world views, grand theories, paradigms or the like - which (re-)construct
respectively different images of I.R., in the lights of which the central formal
categories of the discipline - actor, structure, and process - are differently "filled"
with "ontological content", i.e. assume different gestalt qualities (cf. Fig. 4)
The explanation for this contention is two-fold: it hinges
a) on a specific interpretation of the social function of I.R. as a science of crisis
interpretation, crisis management, and crisis resolution
b) on a concomitant view of I.R. theory generation and theory development
which sees a new theory as the answer of the scientific community to extrascientific - i.e. political, socio-economic, ecological etc. - crisis phenomena
which cannot any longer be interpreted, managed, or resolved within the
ontological and categorical framework of established, overcome theories.
In contrast to Kuhn's "Structure of Scientific Revolutions" I claim furthermore
that - though new crises produce new theories - there is no paradigm shift in
I.R., i .e. no replacement of a theory by an ersatz theory (Stegmller 1987,

280ff). Rather, theory development follows a process of bi-/multi-furcation . i .e.

new theories branch off the body of established theories at particular points in
time (extrascientific crises), yet leaving the established theories in the overall
corpus of crisis interpretations/crisis management or resolution means. The
resultant genetic structure resembles that known from Chomskys
transformational-generative grammar: it looks like a tree (cf. Fig.5)
It is my contention too that the fissiparous state of present-day international
relations theory is also due to the fact that since the reception of Critical Theory
in I.R. (if not perhaps even before that) I.R. theory has maneuvered itself into a
meta-theoretical quandary - between (classic) Explanatory Theory on the one
hand, and Constitutive Theory on the other. At question is the basic function
of theory: should it
a) offer explanatory accounts of International Relations
! Premiss: the social world is like the natural world
an object existing outside of and independent from
our perception and our theories
! Position: nave empiricism
OR
b) constitute the reality of International Relations
! Premiss: the social world is what we make it to be by
constructing it with the help of /on the basis of our theories
! Position: all knowledge is theory-laden or theory-dependent
(N.B. there is only a short step from Hermeneutics to Constructivism)

Fig. 1: Theory: the conceptual field

social-philosophical & ontological aspects

historical& epistemological aspects

Description, analysis and systematization

of the institutionl development of the
discipline, the development of its
terminology, the definition of its subject,
problematique and cognitive interests
("Erkenntnisinteresse), as well as of the
internal scientific and external (historical,
political, socioeconomic) boundary
conditions influencing these

Description of the genetic development of

concepts, problem definitions, and
doctrines of thought in and about
international relations; description of the
process of doctrinal and conceptual
development in the history of international
thought

History of I.R. as a
scientific discipline

History of Ideas of
International Relations

THEORY OF
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS

Epistemology of
International Relations

(Social) Philosophy of
International Relations
Formulation and/or analysis of the norms of
an existing international Society;
philosophical construction of a new
international social order rescinding the
existing one; also: decision on the question
whether, and in what manner, an
international society exists, and which
normative validity its existential reasons
can claim

a) Formulation of explicit criteria for

deciding on the logical and scientific status
of general statements and propositions
Methodology & Logic of Reliability
b) Systematic meta-reflection of
preconditions and assumptions, range and
performance, and logical and lingustic
limits of the production of knowledge in
the discipline

Fig. 2: Theory: Fields of formal meaning

Fields of formal meaning

Types of theory

1. Concept # Construct
# Ideal Type# Typology

Historical-sociological theory
Linking of empirical analysis of
real- historical configurations of the
inter- national system with the
development of ideal-typical
models on the basis of historical
comparisons. Aim: structural
analysis and comparative research
into causes and driving forces of
historical processes

2. Conceptual Framework
# Pre-theory# Approach

3. Assumption# Hypothesis
# Law

THEORY
Inductive (empirical) theory
Description, explanation, and
prognosis of international
phenomena. Aim: formulation of
empirically tested laws of
international actors' behaviour

4. Axiom # Proposition
# Theorem/Doctrine

Deductive (system-analytical)
theory
Axiomatic construction of formal
models. Aim: formulation of
generally valid laws of international

5. Model # Scientific World

Wiew # Paradigm

Fig. 3: Theory: Typical Functions

Constitutive Function

Constitution of specified
areas of reality by means
of theoretical concepts

1) Means of description

(ontological theory)
statement of existence of
phenomena or facts
2) Means of explanation

(explanatory theory)
statement of causes or reasons for the existence of
phenomena or facts

Interpretative Function

COMPLEX
REALITY

Meaningful structuring of
specified areas of reality
Orientative Function

Reduction of complex
phenomena to simple
explanations or idealtypical insights

3) Means of corroboration

Goal Defining Function

(validating theory)
Statement of adequacy and
logical consistency of
explanation or reason for
the existence of phenomena
or facts

Guidance for practical action

in reality
Legitimation Function

Legitimation of acts and/

or results of actions in
reality

Theories are mental constructs enabling us to deal with the welter of information
about reality by which we are confronted. They help us to structure/ reduce to
manageable portions/ impose a conceptual and systematic order on the mass of
information about reality. They also enable us to explain individual phenomena by
describing the place of these phenomena in a larger context of information and/ or
by formulating causal or genetic-temporal relationships between individual
phenomena and other phenomena/ sets of phenomena.

Fig. 4: Grand Theories of International Relations

Grand theory

Actor

Realism

Milieu

Structural
Principle

World of states
as an international an-archic
state of nature

vertical
segmentation,
unlimited zero-sum
game fr power,
influence, and
territorial/economic
resources
vertical
segmentation, zerosum games
regulated by norms
and common interests ("cooperation
under anarchy")
universalistic
constitution;
Federalism

National Actors,
English School of Nation States
International
Relations

World of states
as (legally
constituted
international
society of states

Idealism

World society as
international
society of
individuals

Individual

interdependency- Individual or
oriented
societal actors
Globalism

Transnational
Society

functional: stateboundary transgressing network

formation
societal: horizontal
state-boundary
transgressing
stratification;
(power-) political:
vertical
segmentation of
imperialistic
competitors
horizontal:
stratification of
national actors in
the world system
(power pyramid);
structural
dependency of
peripheries from
metropoles;
structural
heterogeneity of
peripheries

Theories of ;
Imperialism

Individual or
societal actors
representing class
interests

International
class society

dependencyoriented
Globalism;
dependency
theories and
world system
theories

societal and state

actors
representing class
interests

Capitalist world
system as a
layer-cake model
comprising
metropoles and
peripheries

10

I.2) Metatheory - criteria for theory classification

Reference to Explanatory and Constitutive Theories brings us to the question of
criteria for theory classification.
Traditionally, these criteria were of an epistemological character: logical
consistency, parsimony, elegance of formulation, (mathematical) formalization
etc.
A closer look at these criteria demonstrates that they are to a considerable
extent bound up with a peculiar 1950s and 1960s western-atlanticist conception
of social science: the idea that the analysis of society - and the analysis of
international relations as a subfield of that enterprise - should proceed along
purely empirical, positivist lines.
"To explain a puzzling set of facts was taken to be a matter of showing that their
occurrence can be deduced and hence predicted from a known natural or at
least statistical law. The prestige of this analysis not only served to direct social
scientists to look for regularities as the only acceptable basis for explaining
social phenomena. It also required them to believe that there was no reason in
principle why human action should not be viewed and explained in just the
same way as natural events. The result was that 'man as a subject for
science'..." ... "...came to seem not just a possible but the only respectable goal
for the social disciplines..." (Quentin Skinner (ed.): The Return of Grand Theory
in the Human Sciences, Cambridge 1990: 4f)
From the late 1960s onwards, this scientific ideal - scientism - was questioned
by a younger generation of social scientists due to their socialization into the
protest culture of the student revolt. Ostensibly, political reaction against U.S.
engagement in Vietnam furnished the focal point for much questioning of the
role of western social science in the propping-up of established conservative
authorities. Scientistic social science, due to its technocratic outlook upon the
manipulation
of
social
phenomena,
was
regarded
as
a
"Herrschaftswissenschaft" - a science allied with the forces of domination. Its
aspiration for value-free general statements, empirically tested hypotheses and
deductive laws of social behaviour was reproached with a mistake: the refusal
to suppose that the true business of moral, social, and political philosophy as
well as of social science should be to provide us with reasoned defences of
particular ideals, values, or ethically-guided practice. What we experienced was
nothing less than a moral revolution in social science - albeit one which largely
turned to scientific perspectives suppressed by Cold War politics in the 1950s
and 1960s: dialectical reasoning, neo-marxism, critical theory.

11

The common characteristic of all these transformations of the scientist scientific

ideal was the widespread reaction
"...against the assumption that the natural sciences offer an adequate or even a relevant
model for the practice of the social disciplines. The clearest reflection of this growing doubt
has been the revival of the suggestion that the explanation of human behaviour and the
explanation of natural events are logically distinct undertakings, and thus that the positivist
contention that all successful explanation must conform to the same deductive model must
be fundamentally misconceived. From many different directions the cry has instead gone up
for the development of a hermeneutic approach to the human sciences, an approach that will
do justice to the claim that the explanation of human action must always include - and
perhaps even take the form of - an attempt to recover and interpret the meanings of social
actions from the point of view of the agents performing them. "(Skinner 1990:6)

To cut a long story short - the abdication of scientism as the ruling norm of
social science, enhanced by an epistemological reaction against the Popperian
criterion of refutability as a basis for the validation of general scientific
statements (Feyerabend: "Anything goes"), cleared the ground for the
reintroduction of ontological criteria into the enterprise of classification and
corroboration of theories. Thus, at present we classify theories with regard to
two sets of criteria:
a) ontological criteria, leading to the question: which images, which gestalt
qualities, which scientific world-view does a theory generate with respect to the
object of a particular discipline ?
b) epistemological criteria, leading to the question: how does a theory
establish, substantiate, justify and legitimize its statements about the object to
which it refers ?
Using these sets of criteria, it can be shown that the more recent genetic history
of I.R. theory has been structured by a number of debates, which on the one
hand took ontological differences of theories as their starting point, on the other
hand reverberated around different epistemological canons of construction and
validation of statements about the object of I.R. as a scientific discipline.
Ontological debates
Idealism vs. Realism
Globalism vs. Neorealism
Neoliberal Institutionalism vs.
Structural Realism

Epistemological debates
Traditionalism vs. Scientism
Scientism vs. Critical Theory
Critical Theory vs. Postmodernism

12

I.3) Grand theories

The moral revolution in social science alluded to earlier opened up a vista on a
number of properties of theory which cannot be subsumed under an ontological
or epistemological heading.
We realized that theory was not the product of a scientific ivory tower, fulfilling
exclusively intra-scientific knowledge-generating and knowledge-structuring
functions. Rather - as Critical Theory demonstrates in particular - all theory
implicitly or explicitly addresses itself to social practice - in other words,
answers the questions
- What should I do ?
- How can I justify my social actions and behaviour ?
Phrased differently, my contention is that all theories - at least in the social
sciences - have not only ontological and epistemological, but also normativepractical properties.
I follow here Quentin Skinner who calls theories which combine ontological,
epistemological, and normative functions (cf. Fig. 7) "Grand Theories". The
present state even of western-atlanticist social science and I.R. research is
characterized by the fact that Grand Theories have not only returned to the
Human Sciences, but have also taken over from Scientism as the new scientific
ideal.

13

Fig. 5: Genetic Theory Development in I.R.

Early modern period: resolutive compositive construction of the state
(Hobbes: more geometrico);
the supersession of the state of nature by
a covenant of civil association among
individuals frees the state of nature
concept for description of the relationship
of sovereign powers on the international
plane

Construction of the state as an

autonomous international actor (Pufendorf:
persona ficta)

Absolutism - Mercantilism: International

(economic) politics as zero-sum-game in
an anarchical international state of nature

Absolutism: Concepts of Perpetual

Peace as a result of a League of
Nations (Saint-Pierre)

Enlightenment: Rule of Reason,

emanci patory and cosmopolitan ideal
of the late 18th century

Liberal or bourgeois Political Economy

(Hume, Smith, Ricardo): International
(economic) relations as a positive sum
game

Primacy of Foreign Policy, Power Politics

Liberal Internationalism & Pacifism

Idealism (after World War I)

Critique of liberal Political

Economy (Marx, Engels):
I.R. as expression of class
interest

Theories of
Imperialism

Functionalism

Classical Realism

Neorealism

Structural
Realism

Neomercantilism

Hegemonic
Stability Theory

Neofunctionalism and theories of

Integration

Interdependencyoriented Globalism

14
Neoliberal
Institutionalis

Dependencyoriented
Globalism

World
System
Theories

Critical Theories of
I.R.

Fig. 6: Ancestral Lineages of IR Theory

Gleichgewichtstheorem bei
Thukydides

Vernunftgedanke als Seinsprinzip in

der Philosophie Platons
optimierende politische Tugendlehre

ANTIKE

Kosmopolitischer Ansatz der Stoa

Trennung von Ethik und Politik in

der Philosophie Aristoteles,maximierende politische Tugendlehre

Ausbildung frher Souvernittskonzepte im spten Mittelalter

(rex est imperator in regno suo)

MITTELALTER
Hochscholastik: bellum-justum-Lehre, Naturrechtsgedanke, Grundlegung vlkerrechtlicher Theoreme (z.B. Thomas von Aquin)

Skularer Partikularstaatsgedanke
bei Marsilius von Padua
Gleichgewichtstheorem
und
Staatsraisongedanke (Machiavelli),
Lsung der Politik aus dem scholastisch-normativen Kontext
Resolutiv-kompositive Konstruktion des Staates (more geometrico
bei Hobbes); gesellschaftsvertragliche berwindung des Naturzustandes der Individuen setzt das
Naturzustandskonzept auf der
nchsthheren Ebene frei zur Beschreibung der Beziehungen in der
Staatengesellschaft
Konstruktion des Staates als eines
autonomen internationalen Akteurs
(persona ficta bei Pufendorf)
Merkantilismus:
internationale
(Wirtschafts-)Politik
als
Nullsummenspiel
in
der
naturzustndlichen
S
ll h f
Ausbildung des Konzepts vom
Primat der Auenpolitik, internationale Politik als Machtpolitik

Universalismusgedanke bei Dante

RENAISSANCE
Humanistischer Pazifismus
(Erasmus),
Begrenzung des jus ad bellum
Frhe Neuzeit

Neorealismus, Neomerkantilismus
Struktureller
Realismus

Theorie
hegemonialer
Stabilitt

ABSOLUTISMUS

Konzept des Ewigen Friedens

als Produkt eines Vlkerbundes
Aufklrung: Vernunftgedanke und
kosmopolitisches Ideal des 18. Jhdts.

19. JAHRHUNDERT

Pazifismus/ Internationalismus
vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg
Funktionalismus
Neofunktionalismus und
Integrationstheorien als Folge
des Zweiten Weltkrieges
Interdependenzorientierter
Globalismus
Regimetheorie

Welt als Staatenwelt:

Billard-Ball-Modell

Utopien: Weltfriede durch

Weltregierung (Cruce, Sully)
Ausdifferenzierung des Vlkerrechts und Trennung von Vlkernaturrecht und gewillkrtem Vlkerrecht, Begrenzung des jus in
bello (Vitoria, Vasquez, Suarez)

20. JAHRHUNDERT
Realismus (ab Mitte der der 30er
Jahre) als Reaktion auf das Scheitern des Idealismus an der Revisionspolitik Japans, NS-Deutschlands und Italiens

Patristik:
bellum-justum-Lehre bei
A
i

Neoliberaler
Institutionalismus

Welt als Weltgesellschaft:

Spinnweb 15
von Assoziationen
und Individuen

Brgerliche Politische konomie

(Hume, Smith, Ricardo):
Arbeitsteilige Spezialisierung und
Freihandel strken den Weltfrieden
(internationale Wirtschaftsbeziehungen als Nichtnullsummenspiel)
Kritik der brgerli
chen Polit. konomie
bei Marx und Engels:
internationale Politik
als Ausdruck von
Klasseninteressen
Imperialismustheorien
(Lenin, Kautsky,
Hilferding,
L
b )
Dependenzorientierter
Globalismus

Theorien des
kapitalist.
Weltsystems

Kritische Theorie
der Internationalen
Beziehungen
Welt als kapitalistisches
Weltsystem: MetropolenPeripherie - Gegensatz

Fig. 7: Grand Theories - Functions

Constitutive Function
Constitution of specified areas of
"reality" by means of theoretical
concepts
Interpretative Function..
Meaningful structuring of
specified areas of "reality"
GRAND THEORY
epistemologically systems
of generalizing statements
about linguistically
constituted phenomena
taken for "real" (on the
basis of consensus,
tradition, or other
specifically established
agreements)

Orientative Function
Reduction of complex
phenomena to simple
explanations or ideal-typical
insights
Goal Defining Function
Guidance tor practical action in
"reality"
Legitimative Function
Legitimation of acts and/or
results of acts in "reality"
Epistemological Function
Instructions tor the formulation of
scientific statements about the
particular area of "reality"
constituted by the grand theory,
formulation of criteria for the
corroboration/validation of such
statements

16

The importance of Grand Theories lies not only in their role as conceptuallinguistic constructs with the help of which we (re-)constitute, choose, and
interpret the "facts" of international "reality", and decide the question which
phenomena can aspire to the status of recognized facts of I.R. on what
grounds.
Each individual Grand Theory also constitutes a specific scientific world view,
ontologically singular, different from other world views constituted by other
Grand Theories (cf. again Fig. 4). These world views form the cristallization
points for traditions, schools of thought, epistemic communities and the like - all
units in the social organisation of scientific labour which not only differentiate
and refine their specific world view in competition with the adherents of other,
ontologically different world views, but also further the historical development of
science: They hand on their particular body of knowledge, subsumed under the
"trade mark" of a particular Grand Theory, to future generations of scientists - a
process of intra-scientific socialization well known to each aspiring university
student (cf.Fig.8).

17

Fig. 8: Importance of scientific World Views

Members of a scientific community

possess a coherent system of

- patterns of perception
- patterns of beliefs
- patterns of action

i.e. a
Scientific world view

generate their own observational phenomena

on the basis of an intuitive basic attitude vis-a-vis a specific area of
phenomena

common system of cognitive attitudes

handed on by (formalized) tradition
within the context of a socialization
process

structures perception of
"reality"/informs the (re-) constitution
of a specific segment of "reality"
community consensus on the methods
most adequate for dealing with the
particular object under consideration or
the phenomena of a specific segment of
"reality"

"All observations are theory- laden"

scientific world view

as a general manner of viewing the object and task
of their discipline common to a scientific community

18

I. 4) Theory - a fresh look at the concept

Our review of some of the more prominent characteristics of recent (meta-)
theoretical developments in the social sciences leads to a final question: what
can we expect from theory - and what sort of theory are we to expect ?
My own position would neither refer to the classical normative concept of theory
- as a means to formulate and justify existential norms or to devise precepts for
social action which aims at approximating concrete reality to a given norm - nor
to the traditional scientistic or empirical-inductive concept of theory - with its
sequence of observation - description - hypothesis formulation - hypothesis
testing - formulation of laws - prognosis.
Rather, I refer to the dialectical tension existing between societal problem
management and conflict resolution on the one hand, and an enlightening,
emancipatory questioning of existing structures of social power and domination
on the other.
My concept of theory would not regard institutions, behavioral norms, social and
power relations, political and socioeconomic interests and problematiques as
givens, but it would try to localize their position, standing, and importance in
historically concrete genetic contexts.
My concept of theory would try to ascertain the potency for change which could
be attributed to all these social artefacts: to what extent can they contribute to
the change and development of societal phenomena ?
My concept of theory would also try to ascertain the potential for change all
these social artefacts show: to what extent are they open to self-change and
self-development, i.e. for a process set in train by a more general, over-arching
historical process of development, modernization, emancipation ?
Theory so defined produces orientation with regard to a (re-)constituted
"reality". It tries to explain social phenomena - not by subsuming them as
individual instances under general laws, but by looking at their genetic and
functional contexts, their history, societal importance, socially attributed
meaning and socially/linguistically constituted and transmitted interpretation. It
also tries to enlighten about social phenomena: by critically analysing the
difference between aim and realisation in the making of social order, by
contrasting a specific historical-material realisation of a norm with the prospect
of its fulfillment in a concrete - or perhaps also not so concrete - utopia. Or - to
put it more bluntly: my kind of theory would not only have to ask the classical
question "Why ? It would also have to ask the question "What for ? (and
perhaps, having ascertained a satisfactory answer to that question, it would
also ask "How, and with/by which means ?).

19

Fig. 9: An alternative concept of theory

individual quest for

and interest in knowledge

real-historical socio- economic

and political genetic context

previous doctrinal/ conceptual

developments in the history of ideas
representing the sum of
realised/rejected options for action

THEORY
Orientation with regard to a
(re-) constituted reality

(genetic-functional)

(emancipatory)

EXPLANATION

ENLIGHTENMENT

PROBLEM-SOLVING
Conservation or
reconstruction of existing
social order threatened by
systemic crises

LEGITIMATION
Ascription of meaning
to societal behaviour &
corroboration of the
intentions and results of
practical action

CRITIQUE
Of parts or the
totality of existing
social orders and/or
the relisation of
specific values

Aim: Enclosure, Management, and

Resolution of Conflicts, Solution of
Societal/Political Crises

UTOPIA
Construction/design of
new social order models
as further development
of/in contrast to existing
social orders

Aim: assurance of selfresponsible individual and/or

social development

20

Block II: Theory development in International Relations.

Ontological Base Lines
International Relations as a scientific discipline dates back to a particularly
horrendous crisis in European history: it was founded as a direct result of the
breakdown of Eurocentric international relations in the First World War.
Throughout the first fifty years of its existence, the genesis and development of
I.R. theory was interpreted largely in terms of a duopolistic development
process, between the world views of Realism on the one hand, and liberal
lnternationalism or ldealism (as the latter tended to be called trom the 1920s
onwards) on the other (Olson/Groom 1991; Dunne/Cox/Booth 1998).
Fig. 10: The Realism - Idealism Duopoly in the development of I. R. theory
Thukydides Aristotle

Plato

late Medieval concepts

of sovereignty

Stoic
Cosmopolitanism

particularistic concept
of the state (Marsilius
of Padua)

Universalism
(civitas maxima)

balance-of-power
theorems (Quattro-

cento)

World state Utopias

Precursors in
Political Philosophy

League-of-NationsConcepts

Reason of State
(Machiavelli)
Primacy of Foreign
Policy (19th cent.)

Liberal
Internationalism

IDEALISM

ca. 1918/20
ca. 1935/50

REALISM
GLOBALISM

ca. 1980

NEOREALISM

STRUCTURAL
REALISM

ca. 1970

NEOLIBERAL
INSTITUTIONALISM

ca. 1985
ca. 1990

???
Billiard-Ball-Model
World as World of States

Cobweb-Model World as
World Society

LEFT OUT OF PERSPECTIVE:

Classical theories of Imperialism
dependency theories
theories of the capitalist world system21

Centre Periphery Model or

Layer Cake Model

Only in the 1970s the realization of the state of the Third, then even more so of
the Fourth World (development of underdevelopment') the loosening of the
tight grip the dichotomic structure of the Cold War had on I.R. research, and the
questioning of established authorities in the wake of the student revolt opened
up new avenues of thinking: the development of I.R. theory was no longer
interpreted in terms of a two-cornered contest between Idealism and Realism,
but rather in terms of a triangular competition between the former two and
structural approaches to the analysis of world politics.
The 1980s consensus in the field (cf. e.g. Banks 1984) had it that, since the
beginning of the1980s, I.R. theory was characterized by an Inter-Paradigm
debate between Realism, Pluralism (as the successors to Idealism came to be
called in the 1970s), and Structuralism respectively (cf. Morse 1976; Light &
Groom 1985) I quote a typical example:
For realists, such as Morgenthau (1973) and Waltz (1979), the key actors are states, and
the main processes at work involve a search for security, which is usually defined in military
terms, although one of the key contributions of neo-realism has been to offer a powerful
account of international political economy. States are treated, in good Weberian fashion, as
monoliths with interests, dominant of which is the maximization of power. This combination of
actors and processes leads to a world most notable for a struggle for dominance. War is
therefore an ever-present possibility, and this is only held at bay by a mixture of skilful
diplomacy, emerging international law, and, above all, the systemic mechanism of the
balance of power. Indeed, one may discern two distinct strands in realism. The first is a
structural strand, stressing the Impact of the system on its units, and this has a heritage that
runs from Thucydides through to Waltz. The second strand is more practical in orientation,
stressing the role of individuals in dealing with the dangers of anarchy through the use of
diplomacy. This practical strand is most clearly exemplified by Machiavelli. Unfortunately, the
'father' of contemporary realism, Hans Morgenthau, can be read in both ways; I say
'unfortunately' because there is an obvious tension in these two accounts which I will return
to at the end of this chapter.
Structuralists (see Brewer, 1990) examine international relations from a very different
perspective altogether. For them, the state is dominant but only in the sense that it
represents a set of economic interests. Inspired by Marx's writings on international
economics and politics, this perspective sees states not as separate actors in themselves,
but rather as the tools of the dominant economic class. International relations is, therefore, a
struggle for power, but in a very different sense from that portrayed by the realists. The
struggle is for economic dominance, and the key basic actors are classes. The state is
important for its role in promoting class interests, which leads to the analysis of international
relations in terms of core - periphery relations. International politics is the result of the
fundamental developments at work in these core - periphery economic relations. International
relations is therefore concerned with exploitation, imperialism and underdevelopment, and
the main outcome is one of the continued exploitation of the poor periphery by the rich core.
For structuralists, the pluralists' concern with management and changing hierarchies of
values is nothing more than another form of core dominance. The long historical domination
by capitalism indicates its ability to alter its form to continue domination. The so-called victory

22

of capitalism over communism makes capitalism the global model, thereby increasing the
importance of the core-periphery cleavage as the dominant one in international relations.
Pluralists (see Keohane and Nye, 1972; Mansbach et al., 1976; Morse, 1976) accept the
importance of the state, but argue that it increasingly has to operate in a world in which other
types of actors are important. These non-state actors, such as revolutionary groups and,
most notably, multinational corporations, reduce the autonomy of states and increase the
costs for states to get their own way. An array of subnational, transnational and supranational
actors challenge the dominance of the state across a wide range of issues. This results in a
very different view of the world from that of the realists. Gone is the realist notion of a
monolithic state pursuing national interests; gone is the idea, central to realists, of a clear
analytic division between domestic and international politics; and gone is the conception of a
hierarchy of values with military issues being most important. In their place is a world where
national actors comprise many competing bureaucracies, with foreign policy being at best a
compromise between these various organizations' views of the national interest and at worst
the unintended outcome of the pulling and hauling between national bureaucracies. The
nation of separate domestic and international environments disappears to be replaced with a
cross- cutting view of world politics, with the question of where domestic politics begins and
ends being essentially problematic. Finally, this is a world where a range of issues competes
for decision-makers' attention, with there being no clear hierarchy of issues. In this mixedactor system, the focus is on the twin forces of trans-nationalism and interdependence. The
first of these removes the state from centre stage; the second forces us to look at the
linkages between societies and to stress the importance of economic matters in foreign
policy. Together, they refocus analysis away from national control and the balance of power
towards the management of the structural situation of complex interdependence. This
situation is one in which national actors struggle to control a fluid external environment, and
where the analytic focus is on management and bargaining within and between national
actors.
[All quotes from Steve Smith: Foreign Policy Theory and the New Europe, in: Walter
Carlsnaes/Steve Smith (eds.): European Foreign Policy. The EC and Changing Perspectives
in Europe. London: Sage 1995, pp 1 - 20, quotes pp 4 - 5 ]

Obviously, this description is somewhat simplified (as recourse to Figs. 4 & 5

demonstrates). The genetic traditions and internal differentiations of the
competing paradigms are much richer than this brief snap-shot allows us to
assume. Furthermore, the new trinity of approaches to I.R. theorizing neglects
the fact that from the late 1980s onwards, they themselves are assailed again
by new conceptual movements which once again shift the focus of the debate
from the ontological plane of different world-views to the epistemological arena i.e.
- the rise of a critical theory of international relations from the early 1980s
onwards
- the postmodern intervention into, if not deconstruction of international relations
from the late 1980s onwards
- the various critical contributions against a male-dominated science made by
feminist authoresses
- finally the contributions offered by a revived historical sociology.
23

We can deal with the latter phenomena, if at all, only rather cursorily and briefly
(there is certainly scope for a part II of this course). However, what I suggest to
do now and during the next few sessions is to demonstrate the richness - if one
may not even say: the bewildering multi-furcations - of the genesis of I.R. theory
(useful contemporary overviews can be found in Taylor 1978; Groom & Light
1994; Menzel & Varga 1999).

II. 1) The Debate between Liberal Internationalism/Idealism and Realism

both Grand Theories reflect, in view of their genetic context, my contention

that I.R. is an enterprise in crisis interpretation and crisis management

the main bone of contention between the two is the answer to the question:
who are the actors of I.R. and in what milieu do they act ?
Actors

REALISM

Sovereign States & International

Governmental Organisations

IDEALISM

Plurality of actors including states,

IGOs, INGOs, societal actors,
individuals

24

Milieu
an-archically structured
system of states in which
actors enter zero-sumgame competitions for
territory, power and
resources
international society
made up of a myriad of
cobweb-type relations
transgressing national
boundaries and
undercutting
state authority; actors
engage in functional
positive-sum games

Fig. 11: Idealism and Realism: Main Contrasts

Basic Positions

IDEALISM

REALISM

Anthropological
Conception

Man is endowed with

Reason by Nature; his
actions are governed by
norms and ideals
founded in Reason and
therefore intelligible;
these norms and ideals
predicate his actions
upon the concept of
progress to an ever
more perfect world (idea
of perfectibility)

governing disciplinary
interest

Achievement and
conservation of world
peace by supersession
of competition of states
in favour of a world
society (consisting of,
and uniting in the end,
individuals and their free
associations)
Which norms have to be
formulated in order to
direct political and
societal action towards
the realisation of

Man is thrown into the

contradiction of norm
and reality, into the
conflict of creative and
destructive realisation
potentials of liberty; this
situation instils fear; fear
is countered by efforts to
achieve security by
means of the acquisition,
demonstration, and
augmentation of power
(over others)
Achievement and
conservation of world
peace by taking insight
into the lessons of the
past and making use of
these lessons tor the
solution of contemporary
problems

Problematique

a) world peace
b) world society

Object of discipline

Or: How should

international politics be
like ?
World society (as a
unitary world community
in statu nascendi) and
the individuals living in
this world society

25

Which comparable,
typical conditions, forms,
and forces determine
relations between states
or/and international
governmental
organisations?
Or: What is international
politics really like ?

an-archic, i .e. open,

multi-polar system of
states lacking a central
decision-making and
order-enforcing authority

Principal actors of
international politics

Individuals and their

societal associations
(International NonGovernmental
Organisations: INGOs)

Sovereign National
States and
Governmental
International
Organisations (IGOs)

Central aim of actors

Achievement and
conservation of a
peaceful world order

Protection of states'
individual existence and
security; assertion of
states' national interests
in the international
system

typical means and

instruments in the
achievement of aims

- Appeal to Reason
- Enlightenment about
common interests of
mankind
- Education to normoriented action
- Democratisation of
authoritarian, rule-of-lawunobeying regimes
- cobweblike netting and
concatenation of
international
organisations and
associations of
individuals on a world
scale
universal world state (as
federal organisation of
free individual
associations) or
universal world
community
Positive sum game

Acquisition,
Conservation,
Augmentation,
Demonstration of Power
Balance-of-Power
Politics

Progressive
development of forces of
production and
progressive
differentiation and
specialization of
international division of

Changes in the
distribution of goods
favouring one actor
weaken the position of
one or more other actors
comparatively; the
overall mass of goods

Milieu

Characteristic feature
of inter- national
politics

26

Deterrence politics
based on superior
arsenal of armaments

fragmented milieu, anarchic international state

of nature of sovereign
entities not recognising
any higher authority
Zero sum game

labour in a free
market/free trade system
produces continual
increases in the volume,
number, and value of
goods redistributable
within the system; actors'
rising expectations can
be satisfied out of the
growth margin of the
world social product

redistributable within the

system does neither
increase nor decrease
(cf. politics of
mercantilism)

This summary exposition will be followed by a number of more detailed breakdowns of individual aspects of the tradition of Liberal Idealism on the one hand.
the tradition of Classical Realism (as it has become known over the last 20
years or so in order to separate it from the structural arguments of Neo-Realism
and Structural Realism) on the other.
Recommended reading:
Idealism/Liberal Internationalism:
- Evan Luard: Economic Relationships Among States. A Further Study in
International Sociology. London: Macmillan 1984
Classical Realism Originals:
- Edward Hallett Carr: The 20 Years' Crisis 1919 - 1939. An Introduction to
the Study of International Relations. Repr. London: Macmillan 1974
- Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and
Peace, Fifth Edition, Revised, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978
- Kenneth N.Waltz: Man, the state, and war. A theoretical analysis, New
York: Columbia UP 1959
Debating Classical Realism Secondary Works:
- Michael Joseph Smith: Realist Thought from Weber to Kissinger. Baton
Rouge: Louisiana State UP 1986
- Benjamin Frankel (ed.): Realism: Restatements and Renewal. London:
Frank Cass 1996
- Greg Russell: Hans J. Morgenthau and the Ethics of American Statecraft.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP 1990
- Charles W. Kegley, Jr. (ed.): Controversies in International Relations
Theory. Realism and the Neoliberal Challenge. New York: St. Martins
Press 1995
- John A. Vasquez: The Power of Power Politics: From Classical Realism
to Neotraditionalism. Cambridge: Cambridge UP 1998

27

Fig. 12: Liberal Internationalism: Premisses

a) intellectual roots
Scientific
Revolution

Natural Rights
Theories

Puritanism/
Calvinism

Physiocratic
Economics

- clear
distinction
between the
real, objective,
mathematically
observable
world and the
subjective
world of opinion
and illusion
- explanation of
how
the universe
operates rather
than why - or:
preference for
resolutive compositive
analysis rather
than teleological
reasoning
- experience
and careful
reflection on
empirical
evidence only
criteria of truth

- natural law of
mankind
ideally enacted by
natural
communities (.i.e.
commonwealths of
basically free and
equal individuals)
respecting both
divine will and
impersonal forces
of nature
- man is a rational
animal (animal
rationale); his
faculties of rational
reasoning enable
him to gain insight
into the perennial
validity of natural
rights norms and
the need to
exercise
sympathetic
concerns tor others
- the development
of the natural and
social worlds are
governed by
Reason

- work ethic
glorifying
individualistic
pursuit of
material wealth
- qualities of
diligence,
frugality, and
rational
calculation
(cost/benefitanalysis) possessive
individualism
- individual's
profitmaximizing
objectives
require
freedom from
state control

- goods and services

produced for market
exchange purposes
- market process
circular flow of
income and expenditure
- social phenomena
governed by natural
laws independent of
human will and
intention
- economic world a
system of spontaneous order operating through market
processes
- class structure of
society defined not in
traditional status
terms, but in
economic categories
- idea of economic
surplus ("net
product")
- Maxim of "Laisserfaire, laisser-aller"

Rationalist
Tradition

Maxim: Act Rationally sapere aude

Economic Virtues of
Acquisitive Society

28

Economic Model
Building

- cumulative advancement
of knowledge about the
natural and social world
allows application to the
betterment of man's
material conditions of life

Idea of Progress

- unity of nature and

Reason
- unity of morality
and expediency
- unity of private
and public interest

Classical Economics
- central problem: how does the market mechanism
work as a mode of organisation, as a means by
which the different activities of many individual
producers are coordinated
- freedom of the (domestic) market economy and of
(international) trade
- specialisation of production and division of labour
- positive value of all trade
- natural economic order which operates between
states as weIl as within them - or: harmonyof
interests among states as weIl as among individuals

Idea of Harmony/
Community of
Interests

Perfect Social Order

with an Equilibrium
of its Elements
Scottish Enliqhtenment
- aim: application of philosophical principles (perfected by
the use of Newtonian scientific method) to the field of
human behaviour (tradition of "moral philosophy")
- "Mankind are so much the same, in all times
and places, that history informs us of nothing new or
strange in this particular. Its chief use is only to:discover
the constant and universal principles of human
nature."(David Hume: A treatise of Human Nature...)
- society functions as a coordinated enterprise largely
because it is self-governing in the same way as nature is
self-governing

LIBERAL
INTERNATIONALISM

Human Behaviour Governed by Laws Akin

to Laws of Nature

David Ricardo
On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, in: P.Sraffa (ed.): The
Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo. Vol.I: Cambridge 1951, p 133
Under a system of perfectly free commerce, each country naturally devotes its
capital and labour to such employments as are most beneficial to each. The
pursuit of individual advantage is admirably connected with the universal good
of the whole. By stimulating industry, by rewarding ingenuity and by using most
efficaciously the peculiar powers bestowed by nature, it distributes labour most
effectively and most economically: while by increasing the general mass of
productions it diffuses general benefit, and binds together by one common tie of
interest and intercourse, the universal society of nations throughout the civilized
world.

29

Fig. 13: Liberal Internationalism: Genealogy (I)

Principles
David Hume
(1711 - 1776)
Essays, Moral, Political,
and Literary (1752)

- international division of
labour
- self-correcting balance
of trade
- harmony of (economic)
interests between
nations & states
- mutuality of trade and
prosperity

Adam Smith
(1723 - 1790)
An Inquiry into the
Nature and Causes of
the Wealth of Nations
(1776)

- anti-Mercantilism
- economic growth and
productive gains are best
secured by rational
egoists freely pursuing
individual material
interests - or: rational
egoism of individual
economic actor(s) --invisible hand
(competition in a free
market) > public good
- Precondition: freedom
of trade and market(s);
division of labour,
specialisation and
economic interdependence > further
efficient production and
accumulation of wealth
(defined as general productive capacities of an
economy)

David Ricardo
(1772 - 1823)
The Principles of Political
Economy and Taxation
(1817)

- anti-landed interest
- finiteness of agricultural
production factors (cf.
also Malthus !) plus rise
in population drive up
cost of natural
30

International
Application
- anti-Mercantilism
(international trade no
longer a zero-sum-game,
but a variable sum
game)
- preparatory
argumentative stages
in favour of trade
liberalisation
- Vent-for-surplusTheory: foreign trade
absorbs the output of
underused domestic
production factors
- Theorem of absolute
advantage: free trade is
universally beneficial
when each nation can
produce some particular
commodity more
efficiently than any other;
gains from trade are
based on absolute
advantage in production
> application of principle
of specialisation and
division of labour on a
global scale

- world markets offer

means of overcoming the agricultural
obstacle to development
by trade
- foreign trade nationally

(subsistence) wage of
labour, thus reducing
investable business
profits; without
investment, economic
growth suffers and will
finally come to a standstill

beneficial (only) insofar

as it contributes (via food
imports) to lower wages
which in turn mean rising
profits & investments &
new economic growth
- to gain most from
foreign trade, nations
should concentrate on
comparative advantage
in production
- monetary forces
unimportant due to selfcorrecting specie flow
mechanism

Further elaborations
Richard
Cobden
(1804 - 1865)
The Politica1
Writings of
Richard
Cobden (1867)

- Political and parliamentary support tor free trade

- Anti-Corn-Law League 1839
- Cobden Treaty with France 1860
"Free trade is God's diplomacy, and there is no other certain way of
uniting people in bonds of peace."
"Free trade, by perfecting the intercourse and securing the
interdependence of countries one upon another, must inevitably snatch
the power from the government to plunge their people into wars."
"The people of the two nations must be brought into mutual dependence
by supplying each other's wants. There is no other way of counteracting
the antagonism of language and race. It is God's own method of
producing an entente cordiale and no other plan is worth a farthing." (on
occasion of negotiating the treaty with France in 1860)

John Stuart
Mill
(1806 - 1873)
Princip1es of
Po1itica1
Economy
(1848)

- joining of the idea of progress and ever-increasing perfectibility of the

human race with the principle of free trade
"...it is commerce which is rapidly rendering war obsolete, by
strengthening and multiplying the personal interests which are in natural
opposition to it. And it may be said without exaggeration that the great
extent and rapid increase of international trade, in being the principal
guarantee of the peace of the world, is the great permanent security for
the uninterrupted progress of the ideas, the institutions and the character
of the human race."

31

Fig. 14: Liberal Internationalism: Genealogy (II)

To sum up the first hundred years:

According to the classical view of liberal internationalism
- economics has a logic distinct from politics and should not be interfered with,
messed up or hampered by politics
- freely functioning markets, based upon a division of labour, will maximize
efficiency and prosperity
- the "invisible hand" of competition will naturally ensure that the pursuit of selfinterest will lead to the common good of all
- political economy is conceptualized almost wholly in terms of interrelationships
among rational economic actors on all possible levels of analysis: individual
consumers in a national economy; individual groups; individual national
economies interacting in the international economy
- the world market appears as same sort of transnational cosmopolitan
consumer society - a harmonious summation of a huge number of free
transactions among rational economic agents related by the principle of
comparative advantage, striving for a certain semi-automatic equilibrium by
means of the quantity theory of money, which ties in changes in reserves to
changes in domestic prices and thus ensures that trade and payments
imbalances are self-corrective
- Political Economy becomes the science par excellence of peace; it harbours a
"...dream...of a great republic of world commerce, in which national boundaries
would cease to have any great economic importance and the web of trade
would bind all the peoples of the world in prosperity of peace..." (J.B.Condliffe:
The commerce of nations, London 1951:136)

further refinements
by Cairnes, Marshall,
Edgeworth, Bastable,
Taussig

Period of High Imperialism: Marxian Political Economy

Inter-War Period: Keynes advocates countercyclical
state intervention to stimulate both employment and
investment as markets no longer tend towards an
inherently socially beneficial equilibrium (balance of
production and consumption under conditions of high
unemployment)
degree of integration
low

high
of actors

Post World War II

32

Rational Choice
Analysis
("New Political
Economy")
-man as egoistic,
rational, utility
maximizer
-why do individuals
make choices that
lead to economically
suboptimal outcomes?
- -provision of public
goods: group members
benefit irrespective of
their individual
contribution
-free rider problem:
group members tend to
maximize their
individual benefits and
minimize their
individual costs
("Private benefits,
public vices")

Heqemonic Stability
Analysis
-free-rider problem in
global economic
management requires
hegemon to provide
public goods
-hegemons act out of
(enlightened) selfinterest: to defend its
interests system-wide,
the most powerful
state creates specific
international regimes
which will persist at
times even after the
hegemon's decline
because rationally
egoistic states perceive
regime maintenance to
be in their interest

Interdependence Analysis
modernization/
industrialization/
international trade
cause/increase sensitivity of
actors to events/occurences
happening to other actor(s) in
view of increasing levels of
interconnection

symmetric
i.
asymmetric

cobweb model of
international politics (John
Burton)
$

Complex Interdependence
-states neither unitary nor
dominant actors -multiple
channels of contact between
societies -(military) force
inefficient or disutile instrument of policy
-absence of hierarchy among
issues, no preponderance of
security policy over wealth welfare issues

Neofunctionalism as analysis
of regional integration: spillover-effect; political
pluralism and view of politics
as a proces of incremental
bargaining

33

Regime
Analysis
Networks
of
principles
and norms
influence
actors
behaviour

Functional Inteqration
Analysis
-provision of com- mon
needs unites peoples
across
state boundaries ideally
worldwide -integration
of functions proceeds
best by working
from areas of mu- tual
and overlap- ping
intterest in piecemeal
fashion (sector approach)
-concentration on
wealth - welfare
dimension in world
politics to the ne~ lect of
High Politi -natural
harmony of interests in
wealt
- welfare areas
leads to functional
provision of goods
and services by trans
national co- operation,
trans- fers of public loy
ties away from the
national state to new
functional organisations on the basis
of some uti- litarian
calculus &
finallyenmeshment
of states for which it
would be increa- singly
difficult ar costly to pull
out of functional
arrangements

Fig. 15: Liberal Internationalism: Promises

A strategy for international

conciliation and world peace

War is futile and

economically wasteful

Elements

Resolution

Regulation

of Conflicts
governing principle
legal codification and
institutionalization of
international behaviour
legal enclosure of war (by
limitation of ius ad bellum and
codification of ius in bello)
development of international
law, support for international
organisations, multi-lateral
peace-keeping
conflict- and crisis-management
confidence-building measures
development of defensive
defence concepts, arms control,
disarmament
legal enruling of conflicts by/in
international regimes

International
Cooperation

governing principle

governing principle

balancing/compensation of
political/security interests

establishment of universal
world order

diplomatic negotiations,
conference diplomacy, good
offices, mediation/arbitration of
conflicts, (permanent) courts of
arbitration

International/transnational web
of IGOs and INGOs

peaceful change

support for increase in

international interdependence
and formation of international
regimes

policy of detente
establishment of common
security systems
suspension/neutralization/
abrogation of conflicts by
Federalism, Integration,
Supranationalism
transformation of conflict by
world order, world government,
world state models

qoverninq precondition
- enlightened instruction on harmony/community of interests
- neutralization of prejudices by furtherance of international contacts
- transfer of loyalties from state to international/world society level
- advocacy of human rights, civil liberties, democratic government
- building up of supportive public opinion

34

world organisation as provider

of collective security

(regional) federation and

integration
universal (i.e.world)
government

Liberal Internationalism: Problems

As a peace strategy, Liberal Internationalism was not particularly successful.
From 1839 to 1878 the international system was afflicted by 19 wars.
(cf. William K. Domke: War and the changing global system, Yale U.P.1988)
***
As a general strategy for international economic relations, Liberal
Internationalism variously shipwrecked on the respective cliffs of Colonialism
and Imperialism, nationalism and national economic autarky, the mixed
economy, the formation of integrated trading blocks (like the EC with its maxim
of "Smith at home, F. List abroad"), and the North-South divide (horizontal
structure of trade between developed industrial manufacturing countries vs.
vertical structure of trade between industrial producers und underdeveloped
primary producers).
***
As a policy emphasizing individual economic welfare and "consumption as the
sole end and purpose of production" (A. Smith), Liberal Internationalism is
about to founder on the horns of the ecology dilemma (or the problem of the
global commons: peace with nature as a public good involving a massive freerider problem)
***
As an ideal-typical economic model - based on the static operational context of
a two-nation, two-commodity relationship, where labour is mobile nationally but
immobile internationally, with perfect competition prevailing in all factor and
production markets, constant costs of production, no economies (or
diseconomies) of scale, zero transport costs and no barter trade, and
production measured nationally in terms of its relative domestic real labour
costs - comparing national sets of labour costs ratios and showing that a basis
for trade exists where absolute and/or comparative advantage persist, Liberal
Internationalism is miles away from any semblance to present-day reality.
***
"The traditional approach to international relations, by confining itself to the
sterile analysis of trade between (usually two) anonymous countries, has
produced a body of theory which is at worst positively misleading, and at best
merely vacuous." Thomas Balogh: Fact and Fancy in International Relations,
Pergamon Press 1973, p.16)

35

Fig. 16: Realism - Premisses

I) All politics is governed by objective laws - i.e. causal relations existing

independently of individuals' perception. The aim of international theory is to
recognise these laws amidst the welter of individual historical cases. Once
formulated, these laws serve as a tool in the interpretation and analysis of
concrete cases of international politics. They also form the basis of a
praxeology of international politics - i.e. of an attempt to formulate guidance
rules tor future action in specific international situations. These rules should
heed the maxims of political prudence and moderation.
II) States are the only important actors of international politics. The analytic
object of I.R. as a scientific discipline are the relations between states. Thus, its
primary research interests are the behaviour and motives of international actors
- or, more precisely, of those legitimized foreign policy decision makers
representing their state vis-a-vis other states. Other international actors gain
importance only to the extent they can be regarded as agents or tools of states.
The State as Actor (and Gatekeeper) in International Politics

State C

State A

State B

= state government: foreign policy decision-makers

= domestic society
= internal domestic relations between government & society
= external relations between states

36

III) International relations are the result of individual interactions of states as

international actors. The aims of these actors are defined in categories of
military power and national security ( "High Politics"). National security in turn is
defined in the categories of territorial rule and/or ideological domination
undisturbed by outside influences. All other political aims (i.e. economic and
social security, cultural development etc.) are defined as "low politics"; in the
inventory of state aims and values they enjoy only a minor role.
IV) The key concept of political theory is the concept of power; the acquisition,
conservation, augmentation, and demonstration of power is a basic need of
man's anthropological condition.
V) International actors strive for power. Insofar as they are sovereign actors,
they cannot be controlled by a higher authority enjoying the monopoly of the
legitimate exercise of physical power. Thus, the essence of international politics
is an an-archic competition for power amongst its actors.
VI) In such a fragmented, an-archic milieu general ethical norms cannot be
asserted. Maxims for political action valid in a specific historical situation are, as
a rule, functions of the interests of the more powerful international actors. Thus,
cooperation of actors under anarchy serves their individual interests, particularly
their interest in conserving and/or improving their relative power position. The
factual existence of international norms and of international cooperation do not
furnish any clues to the existence of an international society of states
(regulated, in the common interest of actors, by international law).
VII) In such a fragmented, an-archic milieu states generally pursue their
national interests. The national interest is defined in the category of conserving
a state's absolute or relative power position in the international system. Thus,
domestic politics have to serve the basic interest of securing the territorial and
political integrity of an actor. This posits the primacy of foreign policy.
VIII) International relations are a zero-sum-game; improvements in the position
of one actor cause corresponding deteriorations in the position of another/all
other actors. The decisional mode of this game is conflict; military force serves
implicitly or explicitly as a means of conflict regulation and conflict resolution.
IX) Due to the lack of an effective, legitimate higher authority superimposed
upon the international actors, the international system is a self-help system.
Recourse to the application of military force is the ultima ratio of international
politics. The primary aim of politics following the interest of power must be the
conservation of national sovereignty. Thus, the overall context of an actor's
international politics is ruled by security and defence; foreign policy is
subjugated to the primacy of security politics.
X) The historical development process of international politics is a contingent
one: there is no evolution to a final, pre-ordained aim or end.

37

Fig. 17: Classical Realism Genesis

Historical background

History of ideas - sources

Genesis of the territorial state and

radication of political control
(cf.Fig.18)

Machiavelli:
Development of the concept of Reason
of State as legitimatory focus of the selfassertion of the modern territorial state

Genesis of the (domestic) peacemaking & law-,order-,and securityproviding functions of the territorial
state

Hobbes:
Supersession of the state of nature between
individuals by social contract establishing the
Ruler as the sole holder of the monopoly of
physical power; legitimation of the ruler as the
guarantor of a territorially distinct security
community recognizing no higher authority
(essence of sovereignty); freeing of the concept
of the state of nature for the purpose of
describing the relations between such security
communities (i.e. sovereign states)

Drawing of political boundaries and

distinction between domestic and international spheres of competence
Genesis of the European System of
States since 1648/1713

Natural Law doctrines (16th/18th cent.):

Development of the concept of the state
as a legal person; metaphoric hypertrophy of
this concept by the Historical Law School
(19th cent.): state as independent international
actor acting on the international plane out of its
own free will

Idealtypical metaphoric
characteristics

System level

Actor level/unit level

- an-archic structure

- exclusive competence of actors in the field

of high politics
- Territoriality: protective function of the
hard shell (cf.Fig.19)
- purposively-rational, profit-maximizing/
profit-optimizing behaviour of actors
- principle of (armed) self-help gover- ning
the assertion of interests on the international
scene

- security dilemma
- Balance-of-Power based on
deterrence
- international relations as a zerosum game of state actors for power,
resources, influence

38

Fig. 18: Die Genese des Territorialstaats

frhes
Mittelalter

10. 12.
Jahrhundert

Entwicklung des
Regalienrechts als
Komplex
territorialer,
fiskalischer,
konomischer
Rechte: vielfach
bergang der
Regalien in
landherrliche
Hand

Herrschaft:
Persnliches Geschftsverhltnis zwischen Frst
und Vasall, begrndet durch Kommendation des
Vasallen dem Senior gegenber in obsequium

Personenverbandsstaat:
Als geschichtete Stufenleiter von Autoritten,
ber- und Unterordnungsverhltnissen;
Herrschaftsgebiete durchsetzt von Immunitten
aller Art; Herrschaft nicht monopolartig
strukturiert, sondern Gemengelage
verschiedenster Zuordnungsverhltnisse

Ausbau der
landesherrlichen
Gerichtswesen
- Hofgerichte
- Prozessrecht
- RechtsKodifikation
- Einhegung der
Selbsthilfe (Fehde)
durch Landfrieden
- Ausschluss des
Rechtzuges an
bergeordnete (z. B.
kaiserl.) Instanzen

Ausbildung der
Lehre von den
zwei Krpern des
Knigs; Trennung
von personaler
und (staats-)
rechtlicher
Bedeutung:
bertragen symbolische
Bedeutung des
Kronbegriffs zur
Bezeichnung von
Staat un
Herrschaft

39

Sonderung des
Reichgutes von
dynastischen
Erbgut;
Ausbildung des
kgl. fiscus.
Auseinandertreten
des personalen
und
transpersonalen
Bedeutungsinhalts
des regnumBegriffs

gegenseitiges
Vertrauens- und
Verpflichtungsverhltnis

feudal- oder
lehensrechtlicher
Kodex

Lockerung des
lehensrechtl.
Konnexes und
fortschreitende
Radizierung von
Herrschaft (und
Herrschaftslegitimation)

13./14.
Jahrhundert

Vereinigung eines Komplexes

verschiedener (herzoglicher,
grflicher, lehensrechtlicher,
grund-, dienst-,
immunittsherrlicher und
vogteilicher) Rechte einschl.
bergegangener kniglicher
Regalien in der Hand eines Herrn,
in dessen Person die territorial
noch unabgeschlossenen Gemenge
verschiedener Herrschaftssphren
zusammenlaufen

Ausbildung der frstlichen terra

als konsistentere Gre durch:
- Institutionalisierung der
Herrschaftsausbung
- administrative Durchformung
und Brokratisierung der
Verwaltung
- Entpersonalisierung der
Herrschvorstellung
- Erblandeseinigung und
Erstgeborenrecht

Umbildung des Komplexes von

Einzelrechten zu einer
einheitlichen obrigkeitlichen
Gewalt (oberste Gewalt;
superioritas); Mediatisierung
nachgeordneter Herrschaften
sowie Nivellierung des Status
ihrer Inhaber zu Untertanen; im
Gegenzug Heraushebung der
Stellung des Landesherrn

Vorstufen Naturrechtlich-abstrakter
Staats(personen)begriffe

Ausbildung der
Landeshoheit als wesentlich
territorial bestimmte, die
verschiedenen
Herrschaftstitel
zusammenfassende und
berhhende
Herrschaftsgewalt des
Frsten im Land

Bestimmung des
Herrschaftstitels durch das
beherrschte Land; der Frst
wird zum Frsten von einem
Territorium

Territorialstaat als ein auf

dem Amts- und
Flchenprinzip basierender
Verwaltungsstaat

institutioneller Flchenstaat

40

Prozess vom
14. bis zum 16.
Jahrhundert

Fig. 19: The Modern Territorial State

Substrate of the Billiard-Ball-Model of international politics
Premiss: The existence of the state is legitimized by the fact that it guarantees security and
the rule of law in domestic politics and provides protection against (armed) attack in its
relations with other similarly constituted security communities

Factors of change:
Development of the
forces of production
and of the means of
destruction

Medieval starting point:

Towns

Castles

wall-protected impenetrability

Territorial state: impenetrability

guaranteed by a hard shell of
fortresses protecting phisical
borders; parallel to this, walled
immunities within the territory are
abolished by the central power

overcomes

Gun-powder
revolution of the
late medieval age;
development of
artillery and longdistance (ballistic)
weapons (parallel:
fire-arms outmode
armoured knights)

fortress-protected
impenetrability

forms of expression

Strategically:
Military power

Politically:
Independence

Legally:
Sovereignty

Modern state: Domestically secure and

pacified unit enjoying the monopoly of the
ligitimate exercise of physical violence;
externally defensible by virtue of its hard shell

41

Precondition: (landand sea-) warfare

remains in the
horizontal

militarily politically legally

supported impenetrability

overcomes

increase

PENETRABILITY

Globalisation

Functional
Interdependence

Air warfare: conduct of

war opens the vertical
dimension, particularly
by the development of
ballistic missile systems
and nuclear weapons of
mass destruction
Dynamics of industrial
production, dependency
of foreign production
resources and external
markets

Transnational
network

Differentiation of the international division of labour

and production

Recommended Reading:
- John H. Herz: International Politics in the Atomic Age. New York:
Columbia UP 1959
- Edward L. Morse: Modernization and the Transformation of International
Relations. New York: Free Press 1976
- Kenneth Dyson: The State Tradition in Western Europe. A Study of an
Idea and Institution. Oxford: Martin Robertson 1980
- Anthony Giddens: The Nation-State and Violence. A Contemporary
Critique of Historical Materialism, Vol. II. Repr. Cambridge: Polity Press
1989
- Hagen Schulze: Staat und Nation in der Europischen Geschichte.
Mnchen: C.H.Beck 1994

42

Realism: ontological and analytical problems

Problematic premisses:
a) Elevation of states to the status of rational, unitary actors which follow, within
the context of the an-archic international system. the aim of guaranteeing their
own survival by means of the game of power politics
b) The political calculus of states is solely governed by the distribution of power
within the system
c) State action is primarily oriented towards the acquisition, conservation,
augmentation, and demonstration of power; secondarily towards the conservation of the Balance of Power

Hypostization of the concepts of the

State

International System

If the unitary actor is dissolved

- as e.g. in the bureaucratic politics model - it
splinters into an uneasy conglomerate of
competing/warring power factions and
political and socioeconomic interests.

The international system regulates the

behaviour of its units in the same way the
market regulates the behaviour of firms;
power politics based on self-help assumes
the same function in international politics as
the maximization of profit in a market
economy
(cf. further on this the discussion of NeoRealism and the agency - structure - debate)

This suspends
- the homogeneity of state actions
- the 1ikeness and comparabi1ity of actors
and of actors' systemic behaviour

The hypostatization of basic concepts and premisses becomes even more

obvious in the neorealistic variant of Realism formulated by Kenneth Waltz in
the late 1970s. Briefly, Neo - Realism may be interpreted as the consequence
of the behavioral revolution in social science and the inroads of scientistic
epistemology in the field of I.R.. Neo-Realists claim to do away with the woolly
foundation of Realism on mythological anthropocentric premisses. Rather, they
found their theoretical edifice on a structural property of the international system
- anarchy. Wheras they concede, at best. to the theory of Classical Realism an
inductivist-empirical status (with a strong sprinkling of normative overtones),
they claim for neo-realist theory the status of a deductivist-systemic enterprise.
In their view, this status much more fulfills the traditional criteria for judging the
value of a theory formulated by scientist epistemology: logical consistency,
parsimony, elegance and formalization of formulation.

43

Fig. 20: Characteristics of Realism and Neo-Realism

Foundation of premisses

Epistemological status

Realism
anthropological (man as
a security- and
powerseeking agent), i.e.
unit-level

Neo-Realism
structural (anarchy of the
international system), i.e.
system-level

inductivist - empirical,
normative overtones

deductivist systemtheoretic, devoid of any

references to values or
ethical norms

The main premisses of Waltzian Neo-Realism are:

i) Over space and time, the behavior of states shows more similarities than
differences. These similarities can be adduced to a unit external to the unit
actors - i.e.to the international system. The behavior of the system dominates
the behavior of its units.
ii) Anarchy, defined as the absence of a central authority, is the structural
principle of the international system.
iii)The structural principle of anarchy generates and legitimizes the central
maxim of state behavior: "Help yourself". States not heeding this maxim, i.e.
states behaving in a non-conformist way, will be excluded from the international
system and destroyed.
iv) Contrary to national societies, the international system does not know and
allow for functional differentiation of its individual units. All units are of the same
character. Thus, the distribution of power between the units is the main (if not
the only) variable explaining the processes of international politics.
v) The regular state of the international system is that of a balance of power.
Due to the self-help principle, states engage in a continuous process of powerbalancing, the aim of which is to avoid the centralization of power in a particular
unit of the system. Thus, states do not try to maximize their power, but rather
they preserve their relative power position in the system.
Recommended Reading:
- Barry Buzan/CharlesJones/Richard Little: The Logic of Anarchy.
Neorealism to Structural Realism. New York: Columbia UP 1993
- Barry Buzan/Richard Little: International Systems in World History.
Remaking the Study of International Relations. Oxford: OUP 2000

44

Realism: ontological and analytical problems (II)

In its classical, but even more so in its structural variety, Realism is a theory of
international politics remaining and resting firmly on the system level - in other
words on the level of the world of states. Thus, it cannot deal with
developments manifesting themselves on the unit level or on the level of
transnational society: the sub-systemic forces and conditions influencing shape
and processes of international politics are not accounted for.
Analytical deficits:
- all forces and developments increasing the penetrability of the state-as-actor
(cf. Fig.19 bottom third)
- developments in the fields of transnational politics/transnational relations:
states-as-actors are at times subverted, at times outplayed by societal
international actors (e.g. multinational firms); at times they simply dissolve, as in
situations of civil war, ethnic-nationalistic strife, etc. (try to explain the
disappearance of Somalia from the scene of international actors by reference to
the balance of powers in Subsaharan Africa - it doesn't work!)
- the number of opportunities for a successful projection of international
(military) power seems to dwindle (the first Gulf war between Iraq and Iran, and
Bosnia-Hercegovina may be blatant cases in question) - what other instruments
does the Realist have in order to ascertain actors' national interests in an
anarchic international system?
- in the course of the development of the social security state in the West the
traditional connotation of security - military and territorial security - is
considerably enlarged:

Security (as of yore)

Security (as a result of rises in

material expectations in the west)

Guarantee of the survival of state

actors in the anarchic
international system by means of
military power projection

Guarantee of a materially and

psychologically successful and
rewarding conduct of an individual's
life in the context of a competitive
capitalist society

Military power projection, as a rule, proves to be counterproductive in the latter

context.

45

Agency - structure debate:

[All quotes from Steve Smith: Foreign Policy Theory and the New Europe, in: Walter
Carlsnaes/Steve Smith (eds.): European Foreign Policy. The EC and Changing Perspectives
in Europe. London: Sage 1995, pp 1 - 20, quotes pp 16 19]
At its simplest, the agency-structure debate is about whether accounts of human social
behaviour are to be grounded in terms of the actors' intentions and definitions of the
situation, or whether they are to be based on a model of the natural sciences, in which no
conscious agency is required. This dispute is very much alive in the social sciences, but has
been virtually ignored in international relations generally and FPA specifically. However, the
rise of neo- realism as an account of international relations, especially in its Waltzian form,
has brought the issue of system-unit linkages to the fore. Yet, this problem is usually
portrayed as one to do with the amount of explanatory power accruing to each level of the
system-unit debate. That is to say, the issue is framed as if the two levels are different maps
of the same world. This is exactly the metaphor used by Singer in his early and very
influential discussion of the problem. Yet as Singer suggested, and although this was largely
forgotten by those who referred to Singer's work, there are grounds for treating the two levels
of analysis as incompatible in same fundamental way. This is because the social world is not
like the natural world, and therefore any two views of it may be qualitatively more difficult to
combine than is the case with the natural world. While there is no great mystery about two
views of a mountain or a vase of flowers, the same cannot be said about social action.
Whereas two maps of the world distort the shape of territories at the poles and the equator,
this distortion is purely mathematical, and capable of resolution; hence Singer's injunction to
use whichever map was most accurate for the area you were concerned with. This is not at
all like the social world, where action can be seen in different ways without any such hope of
resolving differences.
The implication of the agency-structure debate is that there may always be two accounts,
and that there is no way of combining these accounts.
It is necessary to say a few words about why the debate might be unresolvable.

There are three main lines of argument. The first is methodological: to believe that there is a
way of combining accounts that stress agency with accounts that stress structure implies that
there is some way of knowing when which account is to the fore. Yet there is no position
external to each account that gives the observer a secure place from which to assess the
relative potencies of the accounts. It is simply not possible to say that empirical behaviour is
in this instance 75 per cent agency and 25 per cent structure. To reiterate a point made
above, there may be always two stories to tell, and each contains its own criteria for selecting
evidence. Now, given that FPA is broadly positivistic, it is not surprising that this problem has
not been widely discussed. But, once the core assumption of positivism, concerning the role
of data and their neutrality, is called into question by seeing data as ineluctably theory-laden,
then the secure vantage point disappears, and the possibility of devising a methodological
procedure to combine the accounts vanishes.
A second line of argument is epistemological: there exists no common epistemology between
the two accounts. Agency accounts have to proceed by treating the actor as a choosing
individual, and therefore work from the intentions and definitions of the situation to behaviour.
Above all the aim is to find out what behaviour meant for the actor, and what counts as
knowledge is the rational reconceptualization of the actors intentions.

46

Structure accounts, on the other hand, work from the model of knowledge found in the hard
sciences, in which behaviour is analysed without dealing with the intentions of actors.
The third line of argument is ontological: agency accounts see individuals as ontologically
prior, and systems or societies as the unintended or consequential by-products of
interactions between individuals. Structure accounts start with ontologically prior structures
and see individuals in terms of the roles they occupy within these structures. FPA has clear
examples of each of these. ontological positions, with the belief systems literature a good
example of the former and the bureaucratic politics literature a paradigm example of the
latter. Yet clearly both agents and structure cannot be ontologically prior, and attempts to
treat them as coexisting merely reduce the problem to a further level of analysis, in this case
to a debate about psychology. I do not need to offer straw-person forms of either type of
account, since in our view the problem occurs at whatever level of sophistication applies. In
other words the argument against transcending the debate holds that there are always two
stories to tell, and that these two stories can apply at any level at which international relations
is analysed. Be it a debate about relations between system and the unit (state), between the
state (as system) and bureaucracies, or between bureaucracies (as system) and the
individual, the debate is the same. And, as just noted, reducing it to the individual does not
remove the problem: the two accounts, at whatever level, simply see a different individual in
social life. Again, note that there are two dimensions to this debate, and they must not be
confused. The first is the ontological issue of individual or structural primacy, and
compromise on this issue is less problematic than it is on the second dimension, which
concerns the question of whether the social world is to be understood or explained.

II. 2) The Debate between Globalism, Neo-Realism and other Structural

Theories
If Realism - in its original Classical or refined Waltzian form - was an analytical
attitude and a frame of mind befitting the duopolistic structure of Cold War
conflicts, Globalism very much represented a scientific world view adequate to
the 1970s - in other words, adequate to a period of detente, to the growing
economization of world politics, to the factual phenomena of globalization
ranging from the internationalization of industrial production and the distribution
of goods via the internationalization of particularly financial services to a hefty
increase in world-wide communication furthered by tourism, (satellite) television
and other media, growing importance of international nongovernmental
organizations and an increase in conference diplomacy for which the CSCE
process and its results may be a striking example. According to same social
scientists, the world stood on the verge of turning into a Global Village characterized by an assimilation of life styles, consumer attitudes, value
orientations, leisure activities and hedonistic expectations. At least in the OECD
world, these developments could be summed up in the apt cliche of
McDonaldization of societies - meaning the domination of societal
development by the commercial rationality, the fast turn-over and the profitmaximizing attitude typical for the fast-food restaurant. The central
characteristics of rationalized systems - efficiency, predictability, calculability,
47

substitution of nonhuman for human technology and aspired-to control over

uncertainty - found widespread expression in a broad range of human activities.
Was this all Max Weber with a vengeance - or the surreptitious work of that
driving force of 19th century Liberal internationalism - Reason with a capital "R"
showing its familiar bodily features in a new garb - slacks and jeans rather than
frock-coat and top-hat?
Be this as it may - International Relations as a scientific discipline experienced,
in the 1970s, a veritable shift of thought: from the state and its power as the unit
of analysis to the identity group to which the individual owes allegiance. More
than that - contrary to the suspicious looks by which old-style 1960s scientism
greeted any reference to values, human needs, and psychological dimensions
of behavior, the 1970s saw the concept of human needs, and especially the
need for identity lead to a different explanation of events in world society. The
notion of power as the controlling element of international relations was not
discarded, but its location was changed. Effective power was seen not to reside
in the state as such, but in identity groups. In an ideal situation, these might still
be co-terminous with a nation-state; more often, however, international state
actors turned out to represent multi-ethnic communities. As community groups
are the units with which individuals identify and to which they give their loyalty,
they may well be more powerful than the state in its classic, unitary form.
Conflicts in Cyprus, the Lebanon, and Africa attested to this supposition - quite
apart from other conflicts which are more recent in origin and unfortunately
much nearer to the place I speak from today.
The downward shift of perspective, so to speak, had another, not unintended
consequence. The traditional separation of domestic and international politics
formerly a characteristic feature of I.R. studies came to be regarded as
misleading - whether foreign policy was indeed foreign policy and not either a
spillover from domestic politics or, even more pertinent, the outward projection
of the particular interests of a domestically dominant socio-economic ruling
class was a question with which revisionist historians and younger social
scientists stooped in the culture of the student protest movement grappled for
quite same time after 1968.
Against this background, Globalism formulated its premisses. Again at issue
were the two basic questions of the discipline:
Who are the international actors ? And in what milieu do they act ?

48

The main premisses were as follows:

i) States are not the only actors of international politics (though one cannot
reasonably expect that they disappear from the international arena completely).
A large number of international transactions and their results can only be
explained in terms of actors which the traditional state-centric Realist view
deemed rather unimportant - i.e.
- international governmental and/or nongovernmental organisations and
bureaucracies
- ad hoc constituted or medium- or long-term transnational coalitions of
decision-makers and civil servants
- business international non-governmental organisations (BINGOs) or multinational concerns
- transnational societal associations like pressure groups, citizen committees,
trade unions, churches, political parties and the like. In short, Globalism
replaces the universe of state actors with a pluriverse of state and non-state,
i.e. societal actors.
ii) International relations are regarded as the result of transactions and
interactions of any of the international actors just mentioned. Their aim is the
conservation or improvement of their welfare, defined in the categories of percapita-income, employment and quality of life. The importance attributed to
these aims by national governments, and the domestic advantages or
disadvantages contingent upon the realization or non-realization of these aims
catapult them into the "High Politics" bracket - i.e. put them on a par, at least,
with the more traditional aims of conserving territorial dominion and military
security.
iii)International relations are regarded as a positive sum-game. Actors' gains
are paid out of a continuously growing quantity of social resources produced by
an equally continuous improvement of technical progress, a rationalization of
the modes of production, and an ever wider and ever finer differentiation of the
international division of labour (Ruigrok/Tulder 1995). Cooperation is the name
of the game. All game results assume the form of a distribution of incentives
amongst the cooperating players; these are interested in absolute gains rather
than in relative, merely positional ones.
What the Globalist did not see was the simultaneousness of the nonsimultaneous (as post-modern diction has it). Their world society was very
much the society of the OECD world, barely taking cognisance of the
development of underdevelopment of the Third or even more so the Fourth
World, the growth of interdependence in the west at the cost of also a growth that of dependency in the North-South context. Furthermore, the rationalization
of the modes of production, paired with the improvement and refinement of

49

technical progress, implied a firm subjugation of the resources and forces of

nature to the industrial moloch - so that one wonders whether the extra gains
distributed amongst the players of the positive sum - game in reality were not
paid tor by future generations rather than by a substantial increase in
production and distribution profit margins.
Recommended Reading:
- Winfried Ruigrok/Rob van Tulder:
Restructuring. London: Routledge 1995

The

Logic

of

International

- Peter Dicken: Global Shift. Reshaping the Global Economic Map in the
21st Century. 4th ed. London:Sage 2003
- Jan Aart Scholte: Globalization.
Basingstoke: Palgrave 2005

critical

introduction.

2nd

ed.

- David Held/Anthony McGrew/David Goldblatt/Jonathan Perraton: Global

Transformations. Politics, Economics, and Culture. Cambridge: Polity
Press 1999
- David Held/Anthony McGrew (eds.): The Global Transformations Reader.
An Introduction to the Globalization Debate. Csambridge: Polity Press
2000
These latter questions are addressed by structuralist theories proper dependency theory and world system theory. For the sake of brevity, I
enumerate their main characteristics in (yet) another table.
Fig. 21: Comparison between premisses of Globalism and characteristic properties of
Structural theories

GLOBALISM
Perspective Metropolitan,
pluralistic,
actor-centric
Units of
analysis

NEOREALISM
Metropolitan,
state- centric

international and National

transnational
States,
actors
National
Economies

50

DEPENDENCY
THEORY
Peripheral

Nations in the
world economic
system

WORLD
SYSTEM
THEORY
Overall
systemic
The
(capitalist
economic)
world system

Problematique

Which are the

conditions of
economic
growth and
welfare
in an
interdependent
world economy?

Which are the

structural
principles of
an industrial
world
economy
characterized
by
competition,
formation of
economic
blocks and
economic
(distributional)
conflict?

What
mechanisms
produce and
continue
socioeconomic
(and
thus also
political)
dependency in
the international
economic
system?

What are the

characteristics of the
historical
genesis and
the future
development of the
(capitalist)
world
system?

Premiss

International
relations as
positive sumgame.
Increasing
economic
interdependence
of actors &
progress in
transport &
communication
turn the national
state into an
anachronism.
Economic
progress on a
world scale
results from
increased
efficiency of
international
division
of labour and
progressive
development of
the fortes of
production.

International
relations as a
zero-sum
game.
Subjugation
of economic
interests
under political
interests of
state actors
defined on
a continuum
ranging
from domestic
stability to
international
security.
Economic and
social security
gain the same
importance in
actors'
inventory of
aims and
precepts for
action as
military

Metropolitan
nations have
historically
created
structures of
relations
and patterns of
exchange which
systematically
disadvantage
the nations in
the periphery.
They
continually
strive for the
conservation of
the dependency
of peripheral
nations.
International
economic and
peripheral
domestic
socioeconomic
development is
characterised
by structural

Specific
events in the
world system
can be
under-stood
only as
results of
overall
systemic
developments. The
capitalist
world system
dominates its
unit actors.
Development
primarily
signifies
development of the
world
system. Its
structural
relations are
systemdominant.

51

security.

heterogeneity.
The perspective
underdeveloped
nations have
comprises the
development of
underdevelopment.

General
aims

Peace:
Cooperation and
mutual
compensation of
interests within
the network of
inter- and
transnational
actors/organisations

Security:
Survival of the
state and
conservation
of the
freedom of
economic and
social selfdevelopment

Justice:
Correction of
negative
(distributional)
consequences
of Imperialism,
exploitation,
and underdevelopment

Development of the
capitalist
world system

Economic
doctrine

Liberalism:
Efficient
allocation of
resources and
use of
comparative
advantages of
cost within a
free- market,
free- trade world
economic
system
maximizes
welfare on a
world scale.

(Neo)Mercantilism
World market
competitiveness of nationa
(economic)
actors to be
enhanced by
government
intervention,
protectionism
and economic
block formation

Compensatory
redistribution:
Exploitation of
the periphery is
an immanent
feature of the
capitalist
system.
Compensatory
politics in order
to reduce/
overcome
inequality and
dependency is
a legitimate
demand; the
likeliness of its
being granted
by metropolitan
countries is
dubious.

Pessimism:
Actors'
limited room
for maneuvre
allows at
best a
combination
of
dissociation
from the
world
economy,
autocentric
development
strategies,
and
Socialism
(sic !)
as a way out
of the
dependency
situation

52

Block III: Epistemological Superstructures - the debate between

Understanding and Explanation
It is my contention that much of the theoretical confusion and conceptual
wooliness under which I.R. theory had more than occasionally to suffer can be
reduced to an unwise mixing, if not illegitimate intermingling of ontological and
epistemological categories in the analysis of theory development. This has led
to a situation in which different epistemological approaches in the field are
credited with the creation of ontologically different scientific world views. This is
utter nonsense! A closer look at the ontological universe of I.R. world views
shows quite well that a particular epistemological stance - e.g. scientism - can
go hand in glove with different world views - e.g. Neo-Realism and Globalism.
In other words, the metatheoretical-epistemological plane of argument lies at
right angles to the ontological - and there is no possibility whatsoever to draw
inferences from epistemological properties of a theory to its ontological
properties or vice versa.
Fig. 22: The methodological-epistemological/ontological field of I.R.theory

Billiard Ball Model of international politics

REALISM

NEOREALISM

Traditionalism

Scientism

Qualitative, historical
hermeneutical, common - sensual

Quantitative,
(deductively-) empirical
& nomological

IDEALISM

GLOBALISM

Cobweb Model of international politics

53

Traditionally, the methodological-epistemological debate in the discipline has

been between the adherents of the (natural) scientific tradition of explanation:
premiss: to explain an event or state of affairs is to find another which caused it;
science explains particular events by generalizing and making them cases of
laws at work
and adherents of the hermeneutic humanities tradition of understanding,
opposed to an approach which places instances of human activity in a network
of scientific regularities:
premiss: to understand human activities or a human expression is a matter of
knowing what, in a similar situation, would gain expression in oneself that way;
a person understanding somebody re-lives" by a process of empathy the
mental life of the person to be understood.
The at times rather acrimonious debate flared up in the late 1960s as a
consequence of the intrusion of behaviorism into the social sciences - and has
stayed with us at least until the reception of Critical Theory in the field. To some
extent, one might also argue that post-modern approaches are also antiscientistic or anti-positivistic approaches in the social sciences; we will,
however, reserve judgment on that question until having dealt with the relevant
texts.
The basic features of the explanation - understanding dichotomy, as far as they
influenced I.R. methodology and epistemology, can be demonstrated in the
context of the traditionalism- scientism controversy being the bone of contention
in the discipline in the late 1960s. Basic characteristics are given in Fig. 23
Recommended reading:
- Klaus Knorr/James N. Rosenau (eds.): Contending Approaches to
International Politics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP 1969
- Martin Hollis/Steve Smith: Explaining and Understanding International
Relations. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1990
- Yale H. Ferguson/Richard W. Mansbach: The Elusive Quest: Theory and
International Politics. Columbia, South Carolina: U.of Carolina Press 1988

54

Fig. 23: Basic positions of the debate between Traditionalism and Scientism

governlng disciplinary
interest

TRADITIONALISM

SCIENTISM

Learned counselling of
government decision
makers and political
education of the citizens;
norm-based opinions
and recommendations
for imminent decisions
on the basis of
respective research
results

Explanation, domination
and control of political
processes in a
methodically exact
manner akin to the
processes of natural
science; demonstration
of rationally calculable,
empirically corroborated
solutions for problems of
foreign and international
policy - aim: to enable
political decision-makers
to control their environment more effectively.
The choice of a
particular decisional
option out of the set of all
decisional options is
strictly a matter for
politicians.

Self-image: learned
advisors to princes

Problematique

Understanding of politics
on the basis of insight
into and knowledge of
the genesis of social
developments and
processes

object of study
a) politics

Politics is a specific form

of social, value- based
and aim-orientated
action - an art, the
practice of which can be
55

Self-image: social
technicians
Systematic definition and
structural ordering of
political phenomena on
the basis of observation
and classification;
empirically evident
demonstration of
repeatable relationships
between individual
political phenomena
Politics is a specific form
of individuals' behaviour
in definable situations; it
can be quantified and
analysed in a rigorous

learned by familiarization with historical

precedents. Historical
and social processes
can clearly be distinguished from
phenomena and
processes of Nature;
they are not susceptible
to scientific explanationpatterns assuming the
form of causal, if x - then
y - statements

scientific manner. Social

reality follows its own
laws in the same way as
natural reality; the
observer can subject it to
an objective analysis
in which he assumes the
role of the subject and
social reality the role of
an object

b )international politics

Competitive zero-sum
game for power and
influence in an an-archic
world of states,
characterized by the
security dilemma and the
role of states as (nearly)
exclusive actors

Patterned behavior
process of international
actors in the international
system. The international
system is the sum total
of actors and their
describable structural
and functional relations

Methods of analysis

ideographic,
hermeneutic, descriptive
and normative methods
characteristic for the
humanities

analytic-quantifying,
nomothetic, at times
mathematical -statistical
methods.
Inductive search for
empirical regularities;
statements must be
logically consistent and
formally closed

Criterion of validity of
statements

Common Sense - based

on re-enactable everyday or more specific
historiographically
trained human
experience

Corroboration of all the

theoretical propositions
by means of verification
or falsification based on
observation, description,
and empirical testing of
hypotheses

Relation to values

Statements

Separation of statements

56

Concepts of theory

characterized by explicit
reliance on value
judgments

concerning facts and

value judgments; only
empirically tested
statements about facts
enjoy the status of
scientific statements,
while value-laden
statements must be
expurged from the canon
of scientifically
admittable statements by
a process of critique and
counter-critique

a) Formulation of ideal
types on the basis of
historical comparisons
which assist in the
understanding and
classification of concrete
historical phenomena
("Historical Sociology of
I.R.")
b)Formulation of a
general theory of
international political
action which, on the
basis of the regular
occurrence of
phenomenal forms of
international politics over
time, allows to formulate
instructions to political
decision-makers
regarding future action in
comparable historic
constellations

General, all-inclusive,
empirically testable,
unitary and logically
consistent theory of
international relations
which allows to describe
and explain
contemporary and past
configurations and
processes of the
international system and
to predict future
configurations and
processes

57

Block IV: Recent Theory Development in International Relations - Theory

and the Recasting of the Enlightenment project

Realism, liberalism, and Marxism/Structuralism together comprised the interparadigm debate of the 1980s, with realism dominant amongst the three
theories. Despite promising intellectual openness, however, the inter-paradigm
debate ended up naturalizing the dominance of realism by pretending that there
was real contestation. What characterized scientific reality rather was a
situation of theoretical and/or paradigmatic coexistence: not so much the
continuation of the armed struggle between the various theoretical systems by
other means, but rather a dialogue of the deaf and dumb, an attitude of benign
ignorance of each other. The more ethnic hatreds, religious and fundamentalist
passions, and the all-pervasive struggles of race, culture, and gender called into
question, in the 1990s, the given, axiomatic, and taken-for-granted realities of
orthodox theory and analytical practice, the more they overturned narrowly
conceived images of global reality, the more the traditional doctrines and
protocols of International Relations, the inadequacies of universalist schemes
and grand theories of order and control came under widespread critical
challenge (George 1994).
In recent years, the old-time intellectual dominance of realism has been
undermined by three developments:
- first, neo-liberal institutionalism has become increasingly important as an
analytical perspective, particularly so in conjunction with concepts of
multi-level governance increasingly used in the explanation of EU politics;
- second, globalization has brought a host of other features of world politics
not belonging to the universe of the system of states to centre-stage;
- third, positivism, the underlying methodological assumption of realism,
has been significantly undermined by developments in the social sciences
and in philosophy.
In this context, it is worth your while to recall that the main non-marxist theories
comprising the inter-paradigm debate were based on a set of positivist
assumptions, namely the idea
- that social science theories can use the same methodologies as theories
of the natural sciences,
- that facts and values can be distinguished,
- that neutral facts can act as arbiters between rival truth claims,
- and that the social world has regularities which theories can discover.
We refer again, for the reason of brevity, to a formal representation of the bones
of positivistic contention

58

Fig. 24: Positivist Orthodoxy in IR Theory: Basic Characteristics

Axioms:

Premisses:

correspondence theory of truth

methodological unity of science

value-free scientific knowledge

Division of Subject and Object

Naturalism deduction of all phenomena from natural facts
Division of statements of facts and statements of values

Postulated existence of a real world (Object) independent

from the theory-loaded grasp of the scientist (Subject);
identification of facts in an intersubjectively valid observation
language independent from theories; methodological exclusion
of idiosyncratic characteristics and/or individual (subject)
identities assures objective knowledge of an intersubjectively
transferable character
Postulate of like regularities in the natural as well as the social
world, independent of time, place, and observer, enables the
transfer of analytic approaches and deductive-nomological
processes of theory formulation from the field of the natural to
the field of the social sciences & to the analysis of
social/societal problems
Knowledge generated on the basis of positivist research
approaches and methodologies is limited to the objective (i.e.
empirical) world. Statements and decisions on values are
outside the sphere of competence of science.

Consequences:

Further
Consequences:

Concept of Reason predicated on the purposeful

rationality/rationality of purpose of instrumental action aiding
the actor to technically master her/his environment
Rationalisation of societal (inter-)action by its predication on
planned/plannable means-end-relationships, technical (or
engineering) knowledge, depersonalisation of relationships of
power and dominance, and extension of control over natural
and social objects (rationalisation of the world we live in)
Theory regards itself as problem-solving theory, which accepts
the institutions and power/dominance relationships of a pregiven reality as analytical and reference frameworks, and
strives for the explanation of causal relationships between
societal phenomena; its aim is the elimination of disturbances
and/or their sources in order to insure friction-less
action/functioning of social actors
International politics is regarded as the interaction of
exogeneously constituted actors under anarchy, the behaviour
of which is as a rule explained by recourse to the
characteristics or parameters of the international system (topdown explanation)

59

Since the late 1980s there has been a rejection of positivism, mainly due to
the insight that its stringent methodological criteria do not fit the Social
Sciences. The current theoretical situation is one in which there are three main
positions:
first, rationalist theories that are essentially the latest versions of the
realist and liberal theories;
second, alternative theories that are post-positivist;
and thirdly social constructivist theories that try to bridge the gap.
All these alternative approaches at once differ considerably from one another,
and at the same time overlap in some important ways. One thing that they do
share is a rejection of the core assumptions of rationalist theories. We name
but a few:
Historical sociology has a long history, having been a subject of study for
several centuries. Its central focus is with how societies develop the forms that
they do. Contemporary historical sociology is concerned above all with how the
state has developed since the Middle Ages. It is basically a study of the
interactions between states, classes, capitalism, and war. Not unlike Realism,
historical sociology is very much interested in war. But it undercuts neo-realism
because it shows that the state is not one formal, functionally similar
organization, but instead an organism that has altered over time.
Locus classicus: Raymond Aron: Paix et guerre entre les nations (1962)
Overview : Stephen Hobden/John M.Hobson (eds.) : Historical Sociology
of International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge UP 2002
Normative theory was out of fashion for decades because of the dominance of
positivism, which portrayed it as value-laden and unscientific. In the last
fifteen years or so there has been a resurgence of interest in normative theory.
It is now more widely accepted that all theories have normative assumptions
either explicitly or implicitly. The key distinction in normative theory is between
cosmopolitanism and communitarianism. The former sees the bearers of
rights and obligations as individuals; the latter sees them as being the
community (usually the state). Main areas of debate in contemporary normative
theory include the autonomy of the state, the ethics of the use of force, and
international justice. In the last two decades, normative issues have become
more relevant to debates about foreign policy, for example in discussions of
how to respond to calls for humanitarian intervention and whether war should
be framed in terms of a battle between good and evil. Established publications
are e.g.
F.H.Hinsley: Power and the Pursuit of Peace. Theory and Practice in the
History of Relations between States (1967)
Geoffrey Best: Humanity on Warfare. The Modern History of the
International Law of Armed Conflict (1980).

60

A large array of theories from approaches based on the social philosophy of

the Frankfurt school (Neufeld 1995) via Critical Theory (Linklater 1990) to
linguistic deconstructivism on the one hand, and Lakatosian philosophy of
science on the other (Elman & Elman 2003) are subsumed under
postmodern approaches to international relations. What most of them have in
common is that they question the validity of modern, i.e. rationalist, science and
the notion of objective knowledge: they discard history and they reject
humanism as a lode star for political action, and they resist any truth claims
often in rather incomprehensible jargon (brilliant exposition in Rosenau 1992).
For example,
Lyotard defines post-modernism as incredulity towards metanarratives,
meaning that it denies the possibility of foundations for establishing the
truth of statements existing outside of discourse.
Foucault, on the other hand, focuses on the power-knowledge
relationship and sees the two as mutually constituted. It implies that there
can be no truth outside of regimes of truth. How can history have a truth if
truth has a history? In consequence, he proposes a genealogical
approach to look at history, and this approach uncovers how certain
regimes of truth have dominated others.
Derrida, finally, argues that the world is like a text in that it cannot simply
be grasped, but has to be interpreted. He looks at how texts are
constructed, and proposes two main tools to enable us to see how
arbitrary are the seemingly natural oppositions of language. These are
deconstruction and double reading.
Post-modern approaches have been accused of being too theoretical and not
concerned with the real world. They reply, however, that in the social world
there is no such thing as the real world in the sense of a reality that is not
interpreted by us.
Recommended Reading:
! Pauline Marie Rosenau: Post-Modernism and the Social Sciences.
Insights, Inroads, and Intrusions. Princeton, N.J. Princeton UP 1992
! Jim George: Discourses of Global Politics. A Critical (Re)Introduction
to International Relations. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner 1994
! Cynthia Weber: International Relations Theory. A critical introduction.
London: Routledge 2001
! Colin Elman & Miriam Fendus Elman (eds.): Progress in International
Relations Theory. Appraising the Field. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press
2003

61

That contention, finally, leads us to Constructivism a more recent

phenomenon of I.R. theory formulation. The end of the Cold War meant that
there was a new intellectual space for scholars to challenge existing theories
of international politics. Constructivists drew from established sociological
theory in order to demonstrate how social science could help international
relations scholars understand the importance of identity and norms in world
politics. By attention to norms and states identities they hoped to uncover
important issues neglected by neorealism and neoliberalism.
In general, Constructivists
are concerned with human consciousness,
treat ideas as structural factors in international behavior,
consider the dynamic relationship between ideas and material forces as a
consequence of actors interpretation of their material reality,
and are interested in how agents produce structures and how structures
produce agents.
Furthermore, in their view knowledge shapes how actors interpret and
construct their social reality and: normative structures shape the identity
and interests of actors such as states.
Social facts such as sovereignty and human rights exist because of
human agreement while brute facts such as mountains are independent
of such agreements.
Social rules are regulative, regulating already existing activities, and
constitutive, making possible and defining those very activities.
Social construction, so to speak, denaturalizes what is taken for granted,
asks questions about the origins of what is now accepted as a fact of life
and considers the alternative pathways that might have and can produce
alternative worlds. In that context, Power can be understood not only as
the ability of one actor to get another actor to do what she/he would not
do otherwise but also as the product of identities and interests that limit
the ability to control their fate. And: although the meanings that actors
bring to their activities are shaped by the underlying culture, meanings are
not always fixed but are a central feature of politics.
Recommended Reading:
Yosef Lapid/Friedrich Kratochwil (eds.): The Return of Culture and Identity in
IR Theory (1996)
Vendulka Kubalkova/Nicholas Onuf/Paul Kowert (eds.): International
Relations in a Constructed World (1998)
Ralph Pettman: Commonsense Consytructivism or the making of world
affairs (2000)
Maja Zehfuss: Constructivism in International Relations. The Politics of
Reality (2002)
Cornelia Ulbert/Christoph Weller (eds.): Konstruktivistische Analysen der
internationalen Politik (2005)

62

Additional Biblography:
Classical Authors of International Relations
Adda B.Bozeman : Politics and Culture in International History. From the
Ancient Near East to the Opening of the Modern Age. 2.Aufl. New
Brunswick: Transaction Publishers 1994
Hedley Bull: The Anarchical Society. A Study of Order in World Politics.
3. Aufl.Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2002
Edward Hallett Carr: The Twenty Years Crisis 1919 1939. An
Introduction to the Study of International Relations. 2.Aufl. London:
Macmillan 1974
Barry Buzan/Richard Little: International Systems in World History.
Remaking the Study of International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University
Press 2000
Ernst-Otto Czempiel : Kluge Macht. Auenpolitik fr das 21. Jahrhundert.
Mnchen: C.H.Beck 1999
F.H.Hinsley: Power and the Pursuit of Peace. Theory and Practice in the
History of Relations between States. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P. 1967
Karl Kaiser/Hans-Peter Schwarz (Hrsg.): Weltpolitik im neuen
Jahrhundert. Baden-Baden: Nomos 2000
Werner Link: Die Neuordnung der Weltpolitik. Grundprobleme globaler
Politik an der Schwelle zum 21. Jahrhundert. Mnchen: C.H.Beck 1998
Hans J. Morgenthau: Politics Among Nations. New York:Alfred A.Knopf
1960
Edward L.Morse: Modernization and the Transformation of International
Relations. New York: Free Press 1976
Kenneth N. Waltz: Man, the state and war. A theoretical analysis. New
York: Columbia UP 1959
Adam Watson: The Evolution of International Society. A comparative
historical analysis. London: Routledge 1992
Martin Wight: International Theory. The three traditions, ed. Gabriele
Wight & Brian Porter. Leicester: Leicester U.P. 1991

Biographical Extras
Kenneth W. Thompson (ed.): Masters of International Thought. Major
Twentieth-Century Theorists and the World Crisis. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State UP 1980
Iver B.Neumann/Ole Waever (eds.): The Future of International
Relations. Masters in the Making ? London: Routledge 1997
63

Introductions, Overviews and Critiques of IR Theory

Dario Battistella: Thories des Relations Internationales. Paris : Presses
de Sciences Po 2003
Scott Burchill/Andrew Linklater (eds.): Theories of International Relations.
Basingstoke: 3rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan 2005
James E.Dougherty/Robert L.Pfaltzgraff, Jr.: Contending Theories of
International Relations. A comprehensive survey. 5th ed. New York:
Longman 2001
Jim George: Discourses of Global Politics: A critical (re)introduction to
International Relations. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publ. 1994
Martin Hollis/Steve Smith: Explaining and Understanding International
Relations. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1990
Charles W.Kegley, Jr. (ed.): Controversies in International Relations
Theory. Realism and the Neoliberal Challenge. New York: St. Martins
Press 1996
Gert Krell: Weltbilder und Weltordnung. Einfhrung in die Theorie der
internationalen Beziehungen. 2.Aufl. Baden-Baden: Nomos 2003
Siegfried Schieder/Manuela Spindler (eds.): Theorien der Internationalen
Beziehungen. Opladen: Leske & Budrich 2003
Steve Smith/Ken Booth/Marysia Zalewski (eds.): International theory:
Positivism and beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge U.P. 1996
Cynthia Weber: International Relations Theory. A critical Introduction.
London: Routledge 2001
Ngaire Woods (ed.): Explaining International Relations Since 1945.
Oxford: Oxford U.P. 1996
Other works quoted
Michael Banks (ed.): Conflict in World Society. A new perspective on
international relations. Brighton: Wheatsheaf 1984
Tim Dunne/Michael Cox/Ken Booth (eds.): The Eighty Years Crisis.
International Relations 1919 1999. Cambridge: Cambridge UP 1998
A.J.R. Groom/Margot Light (eds.): Contemporary International Relations.
A Guide to Theory. London: Pinter 1994
Margot Light/A.J.R. Groom (eds.): International Relations. A Handbook of
Current Theory. London: Pinter 1985
Andrew Linklater: Beyond Realism and Marxism. Critical Theory and
International Relations. Basingstoke: Macmillan 1990
Ulrich Menzel/Katharina Varga: Theorie und Geschichte der Lehre von
den Internationalen Beziehungen. Einfhrung und systematische
Bibliographie. Hamburg: Deutsches bersee-Institut 1999

64

 Reinhard Meyers: Die Lehre von den Internationalen Beziehungen. Ein

entwicklungsgeschichtlicher berblick. 2.Aufl. Knigstein/Ts. 1981
Mark Neufeld: The Restructuring of International Relations Theory.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP 1995
William C. Olson/A.J.R. Groom: International Relations Then And Now.
Origins and Trends in Interpretation. London: HarperCollinsAcademic
1991
Wolfgang Stegmller: Hauptstrmungen der Gegenwartsphilosophie.
Eine kritische Einfhrung. Bd. III, Stuttgart: Krner 1987
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