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Critical Debates: Evolution of International
Relations Theory
Chapter 2
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The Birth of IR Discipline
Ø IR as a subject is both old and young. p IR thoughts can trace back to ancient
Greece. p The IR discipline was born roughly in the
aftermath of the First World War.
Ø Why?
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The Birth of IR Discipline
p First, there was no imperative demand for IR studies before World War I.
• IR studies were usually impelled by disasters of international wars.
• E. H. Carr, “International relations took its rise from a great and disastrous war; and the overwhelming purpose which dominated and inspired the pioneers of the new science was to obviate a recurrence of this disease of the international body politic.”
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The Birth of IR Discipline
p Second, there was no effective supply of IR studies at the turn of centuries.
• Norman Angell, The Great Illusion. • Edward H. Carr, The Twenty-Years’
Crisis, 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations.
• Hans Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace.
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The Birth of IR Discipline
p Third, some strong prejudices and biases impeded the emergence of IR theory.
• Human nature was regarded as unchangeable, the state of state relations as a state of nature was seen as a given.
• Diplomacy was taken as patent of politicians and ambassadors.
• Woodrow Wilson, “Fourteen Points”.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø The Emergence of Idealism in the Aftermath of WWI p Woodrow Wilson • Open diplomacy • Disarmaments • Free trade • The League of Nations
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø The Emergence of Idealism in the Aftermath of WWI p Norman Angell • Misperceptions of leaders • Unprofitability of wars • Modernization • Interdependence
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø Major arguments of idealism p Human nature and behaviors are shaped
by environment; human nature can be improved by changing environment.
p National self-determination would lead to democracy; democracy would lead to peaceful behavior of state; international relations should be based on a harmony of interests between countries and people.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø Major arguments of idealism p Conflicts and wars are not inevitable;
international laws, international organizations, economic interdependence, and world public opinion can promote peaceful cooperation among states and build peace in the world; international peace should rely on not the system of balance-of-power, but on the system of collective security.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø The Challenges of Realism in the Interwar Years and After p Edward H. Carr • There are profound conflicts of interests between countries.
• Idealism overlooked importance of power in international politics.
• Collective security cannot preserve world peace.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø The Challenges of Realism in the Interwar Years and After p Hans Morgenthau • Human nature is plain bad. • International politics is a struggle for power.
• There is no World Government, states are sovereign and armed, provide national defense.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø Major arguments of realism p International politics is governed by
objective laws; the roots of those laws lie in human nature; and human nature is pure bad and does not change in the course of time.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø Major arguments of realism p States are major actors of international
politics; there are profound conflicts of interests between countries; national interests and security are primary needs of the state; to protect national interest and security, states need to develop military force; foreign policy of states put emphasis on maintenance, strengthening, and demonstration of power.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø Major arguments of realism p Conflicts and wars are nature state of
international relations; states live in a state of anarchy; there is no world government; international organization cannot bring security to the world; the most effective way to preserve international peace is to rely on the balance of power.
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The First Debate: Idealism vs. Realism
Ø The Foci of the First Debate p Human nature p Power and interest p War and peace p Methodology
Subjects of the First Debate (1920s-1950s) Idealism/Utopianism Realism
Human Nature
shaped by environment; perfectible
pure bad; does not change over time
State Behavior
self-determination – democracy – peace; harmony of interests
military – national security – peace; conflicts of interests
International Arrangement
international institutions and collective security promote peace
international peace relies on balance of power
Approach ought to be ideal – reality
be reality – ideal
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The Second Debate: Behavioralism vs. Traditionalism
Ø The Behavioral Revolution p The behavioral revolution proposed to use
scientific methods to study social sciences. p Behavioralism differs from behaviorism,
which is a theory of psychology on human behavior.
p The behavioral revolution was triggered by both development of sciences and need for scientific studies of social sciences.
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The Second Debate: Behavioralism vs. Traditionalism
Ø The basic assumptions of behavioralism p Human behaves in patterned ways. p The patterns could be used to study
human behaviors. p By using systematic and empirical data
by value-free studies, the patterns of human behaviors could be found.
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The Second Debate: Behavioralism vs. Traditionalism
Ø The Controversy between Behavioralism and Traditionalism p The behavioralists criticized both the
idealists and the realists as arrogant because they do not embrace scientific methodology.
p The behavioralists therefore labeled realism and idealism as traditionalism and behavioralism as scientism.
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The Second Debate: Behavioralism vs. Traditionalism
p The traditionalists insist that understanding IR requires historically based wisdom rather than data-based models.
p They remain convinced that the essence of IR is the qualitative difference and are skeptical of probability analysis and the effort to predict.
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The Second Debate: Behavioralism vs. Traditionalism
p The traditionalists criticized the behavioralists:
• being too confident of generalizing models;
• taking abstract models as realities; • overlooking crucial qualitative
differences; • placing scientific method over substantive
issues of international politics. Zhongqi Pan 22
The Second Debate: Behavioralism vs. Traditionalism
Ø The Essence of the Second Debate p Behavioralism and traditionalism
disagree on: • can we have formal, mathematical,
explicit theories of international political phenomena?
• can the study of IR be quantified? • is a scientific approach “value free” and
applicable to the study of IR?
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The Second Debate: Behavioralism vs. Traditionalism
Ø The Essence of the Second Debate p The second debate is a debate of
methodology. • Since the first debate is over substantial
arguments, statements, conclusions on IR, it was called a real debate.
• On the contrary, since the second debate is only over how IR should be studied, it was comparatively called a pseudo debate.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
Ø The Advent of Neorealism p Kenneth Waltz • Theory of International Politics • Structure realism or neorealism • Structure of international politics p The advent of neorealism is revolutionary
in two dimensions: methodology and theory.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
p Methodology: • Neorealism incorporates the scientific
method into its classical approaches. • One aim of neorealism is to construct a
scientific theory on international politics. • According to neorealism, both qualitative
and quantitative analyses are indispensable.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
p Theory: (differences from traditional realism)
• First, neorealism contributes the new concept of structure and defines the international politics as a system. → Defining factors of structure are ordering
principle, characters and functions of units, and distribution of capabilities across the units.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
p Theory: (differences from traditional realism)
• Second, neorealism pays close attention to level of system, while realism usually to levels of individual and state. → Neorealism holds, only by distinguishing
the structure level from the unit level, can causal relations in international politics been scientifically explained.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
p Theory: (differences from traditional realism)
• Third, realism considers power as the ultimate goal of state and insists that power seeking is rooted in human nature, but neorealism does not think power itself is the objective. → Neorealism argues that the ultimate goal
of state is security, not power.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
p Theory: (differences from traditional realism)
• Fourth, neorealism stresses the impacts of structure on actors in shaping policies, in contrast with realism’s emphasis on the impacts of actors on structure. → Neorealism regards interactions among
states as result of international structure.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
Ø Opponents’ Criticism and the Advent of Neoliberalism p Neoliberalism drives from the criticism of
neorealism. • Keohane, Neorealism and Its Critics • Nye, “Neorealism and Neoliberalism” • Baldwin, Neorealism and Neoliberalism
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
p Neoliberalism’s criticism of neorealism: • Neorealism ignores non-state actors and
overlooks differences among state actors. • Neorealism fails to take the process of
system and interactions of actors into consideration.
• Neorealism spares and sacrifices the interpretive richness of classical realism.
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The Third Debate: Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
p Major Differences between Neorealism and Neoliberalism
• First, the nature and consequences of anarchy.
• Second, international cooperation. • Third, relative versus absolute gains. • Fourth, priority of state goals. • Fifth, intentions versus capabilities. • Sixth, institutions and regimes.
Major Differences between Neorealism and Neoliberalism Neorealism Neoliberalism
Anarchy Does not matter much and better than world government.
A big problem and can be reformed by international institutions.
International cooperation
Cooperation is possible but difficult to sustain.
Cooperation is possible and can be expected.
Relative gain vs. absolute gain
Relative gain is the major concern of states, who ask not “will both of us gain?” but “who will gain more?”
States are mainly concerned with absolute gains, which make cooperate more likely.
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Major Differences between Neorealism and Neoliberalism Neorealism Neoliberalism
Priority of goals
National security National economic prosperity
Intentions vs. capabilities
The distribution of states’ capabilities is the primary determinant of their behavior and international outcomes.
Intentions, interests, information, and ideals of states are more influential than is the distribution of capabilities.
Institutions and regimes
Organizations are arenas where states carry out traditional competition and political rivalry.
Institutions create norms that are binding and that change patterns of international politics. Zhongqi Pan 34
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
Ø Widening and Deepening of the Debate p The debate changed from bilateral to
multilateral, not only among paradigms, but also within the realist paradigm.
• With the end of the cold war, many new theories or variants emerged.
• Neoliberalism, radicalism, critical theory. • Offensive, defensive, and neoclassical
realisms. Zhongqi Pan 36
The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
Ø Realist Paradigm and Its Rivals p The realist paradigm is the major and
common critical target of others. p The fourth debate is mainly conducted • Between realism and liberalism
(neoliberal institutionalism) • Between realism and radicalism • Between realism and critical theory
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
p Realism vs. neoliberal institutionalism • Institution becomes the most eminent
focus of their debate. • On whether institutions affect prospects
for international stability, realists say no, neoliberal institutionalists say yes.
• Realists see institution as intervening variable, institutionalists see it as independent variable.
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
p Realism vs. radicalism • Different perspectives on international
system are the most important divergence. • The realists argue that international
system is anarchical and determined by the distribution of states’ capabilities. To radicalism, the structure of international system is hierarchical, stratified, and dominated by capitalist system.
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
p Realism vs. radicalism • While realism regards state as the major
actor of international politics, radicalism argues that class is the major actor.
• Realists attempt to explain state behavior by both international structure and state interest defined as power. Radicals assume that economics is the primacy determining factor of state behavior.
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
p Realism vs. critical theory • The role of idea and identity is the key
issue dividing critical theory and realism. • While realism emphasizes power and
interests, critical theory stresses ideas and identities.
• Realists define the structure of system as the distribution of power. Constructivists see it as the distribution of idea.
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
p Realism vs. critical theory • The constructivists argue that anarchy is
not a given but what states make of it. • The postmodernists seek to deconstruct
basic concepts such as the state and sovereignty.
• Feminist theory criticizes realism ignoring the importance of gender.
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
p Offensive, defensive, and neoclassical realisms
• Offensive realists assume all states are power maximizers.
• Defensive realists assume all states are security maximizers.
• Neoclassical realists argue that some are power maximizers and some security maximizers.
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The Fourth Debate: Debate among Paradigms
Ø Implications of the Forth Debate p The forth debate as an ongoing debate is
very comprehensive and diffusive. p The debate of realist and liberal
paradigms is still the core and mainstay. p There is no winner or loser in the debate
and all theoretical paradigms get progresses.
p IR theory really becomes pluralistic.
Critical Debates of IR Theory Frame 1st debate 2nd debate 3rd debate 4th debate Time 1920s-50s 1960s-70s 1980s 1990s- Paradigm Idealism /
Utopianism vs. Realism
Behavioral-ism vs. Traditional-ism
Neorealism vs. Neoliberalism
Among Realism, Liberalism, Radicalism, Critical Theory
Style bilateral bilateral bilateral multilateral Subject Human
nature, state behavior, international arrangement.
Method-ology.
Anarchy, cooperation, gains, goals, intentions, institutions, etc.
Actors, ideas, institutions, anarchy, system, etc.
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In Sum: Developing and Learning Theories through Debates
p While IR theory is a theoretical reflection of international politics, its development also follows its own logic.
p The progress of IR theory was primarily driven by theoretical debates.
p Debating is the way of theory development and the way of learning international politics theoretically as well.