Approaches to IR

Question 1

Realism’s strands

Answer 1

Biological realism (Morgenthau)
Structural realism (Waltz) - neorealism 
Neoclassical realism

Question 2

Morgenthau

Answer 2

Human nature is the most important determinant of IR. Rational, egoistic.
Crit: limited view.

Question 3

Waltz/ neorealism

Answer 3

Focus on the impact of 
States the most important actors
Cooperation difficult to sustain 
States interested in relative gains
States have a strict priority of interests

Question 4

Donnely’s view on realism

Answer 4

Many different strands but remains coherent. Realism is “well suited to explain certain recurrent forms of international conflict” while Liberal theory is best for explaining patterns of cooperation

Question 5

Timeline of approaches

Answer 5

Until end WWI utopianism
Until mid/end of Cold War realism
Until 1990s liberalism
Constructivism, neorealism

Question 6

Legro and Moravisck view on realism

Answer 6

Neorealists “thrown the realist baby out with the neorealist bathwater”
Realism core assumptions: states main actors, fixed and conflicting preferences, international anarchy. States action determined by their power and material resources.

Question 7

Neoclassical realism (Wholforth)

Answer 7

Accepts the importance of anarchy seen in neorealism but also attempts to understand the role of individuals in the state decision making process- lending a significance to perception and inability to balance resources.

Question 8

The English School

Answer 8

Hedley Bull (1977)

• States that interact with each other repeatedly have the ability to transform from an international system to an international society
• This society relies on common rules and institutions to all, reinforced by international organisations
• Two conceptions of international society: pluralist and solidarist. Bull argues that the second is possible but should not be pushed too far.

Question 9

Keohane and Nye

Answer 9

(1997) The opposite conditions to realism
- Mutliple channels and actors
- No fixed preferences for security with the use of force declining in importance
- No hierarchy of issues on international agenda

Question 10

Neoliberalism

Answer 10

INSTITUTIONAL liberalism

• Reject importance of anarchy, highlight importance of international institutions and interdependence
• Stress absolute gains