Chapter 2: IPThought, IPTheory, and the discipline of IR

Question 1

What are the three traditions?

Answer 1

1. Realism or Hobbesian
   - international politics is a constant state of war of all against all
2. Rationalism or Grotianism
   - while there is a possibility of conflict, there is also a sphere of good will (Wight, 1994)
3. Revolutionists or Kantians
   - they seek to harden international society into a world state to define it and constitute it as a superstate (Wight, 1994)

Question 2

Why was there no IR?

Answer 2

The 1960’s was dominated by Realism
- The international arena was the realm of recurrence and repetition, not morality and progress
- domestic and international politics were different spheres
- international theory is the theory of survival

It was unsystematised and scattered and that hindered its development

Question 3

Who created IR?

Answer 3

Martin Wight in 1960 when he wrote “Why is there no international theory”