Essentials of International

Relations
Eighth Edition
Chapter 3: International
Relations Theories

LECTURE SLIDES

Copyright © 2018 W. W. Norton & Company

 Learning Objectives
• Explain the value of studying international relations from a
theoretical perspective.
• Explain the central tenets of realism, liberalism,
constructivism, and radicalism as well as the feminist
critiques of them.
• Analyze contemporary international events using different
theoretical perspectives.
 Thinking Theoretically
• What is theory?
➢A theory is a set of propositions and concepts that seek to
explain phenomena by specifying the relationships among
the concepts; theory's ultimate purpose is to predict
phenomena.
• What does theory do?
➢Good theory generates testable hypotheses: specific
statements positing a particular relationship between two or
more variables. These statements can, in principle, be tested
and falsified by real-world evidence.
 Thinking Theoretically 2
• What does theory tells us?
• Theory can explain why things happen and suggest best
courses of action in international relations.
➢ As more and more data are collected, one must be tolerant
of ambiguity, concerned about probabilities, and
distrustful of absolutes, revising theories when necessary.
In the social sciences, including the study of international
politics, theories shed light on the object of study but
rarely achieve the status of scientific laws.
 Thinking Theoretically 3
• The theoretical perspectives of realism, liberalism, constructivism
and radicalism are sets of theories united by some common
themes:
➢Common actors such as nation states – governments, laws,
traditions, etc.
➢International institutions-establish rules meant to govern
international behavior.
➢Conceptual factors such as norms- acceptable behavior of various
actors.
• Different theoretical perspectives focus attention on the different
factors they argue influence international politics.
 Realism: Assumptions
Realism takes a fundamentally pessimistic view of human
nature and state behavior. Under realism, conflict is considered
to be the norm rather than the exception.
➢based on a view of the individual as primarily fearful, selfish,
and power seeking. Individuals are organized in states, each of
which acts in a unitary way in pursuit of its own national
interest, defined in terms of power.
➢States exist in an anarchic international system, characterized
by the absence of an authoritative hierarchy such as a world
government. Therefore, states must rely on themselves for
security.
 Realism: Assumptions
▪Four of the essential assumptions of realism are
found in Thucydides's History of the
Peloponnesian War.
1. The state is the principal actor in war and in
politics in general.
2. The state is assumed to be a unitary actor:
once a decision is made, the state speaks
and acts with one voice.
 Realism: Assumptions
3. Decision makers acting in the name of the state are
assumed to be rational actors, who coolly consider
the advantages and disadvantages of different
courses of action. Rational decisions are taken
with the goal of advancing the national interest.
4. A state needs to protect itself from enemies both
foreign and domestic. A state augments its security
by increasing its domestic capacities, building up
its economic prowess, and forming alliances with
other states.
 Realism: Core Assumptions
• Pessimistic view of human nature
• The international realm is anarchic
➢No central authority
➢No rules or no way to enforce them
• As rational actors, states seek to maximize utility
functions through the pursuit of power politics.
• The utility function is often safety, security, and
prosperity.
• The security dilemma - the idea that the pursuit of increased security by
one state may pose a threat to other states.
 Neorealism
Neorealism gives precedence to the structure of the
international system over individuals and states as an
explanatory factor.
➢The most important unit to study is the structure
of the international system, and that structure is
determined by the ordering principle (the
distribution of capabilities among states).
➢Cooperation is difficult under anarchy because of
concerns over relative gains and cheating.
 Neorealism
Theory of International Politics
• Structure of international system over states.
• Stronger states act to preserve and consolidate
power.
• Weaker states act to acquire power and to mitigate
the effects of more powerful states.
• System lacks an overarching authority.
• International cooperation is unlikely because of the
risk states will cheat.
 An Ideal Realist Policy?
Offensive realists
• One cannot be certain of another’s intentions.
• States always improve their own relative position of power.
• States may jump on the bandwagon and ally with a known threat.
• Conquest pays: expansionist policy builds relative position of power
and intimidates rivals into cooperation.
Defensive realists
• Defensive postures (military, diplomatic, economic) do not directly
threaten other states.
• Conquest does not pay: states tend to balance each other against
aggressors; few wars benefit those that start them.
 Liberalism: Assumptions
• Liberalism holds that human nature is basically good and that
people can improve their moral and material conditions, making
societal progress possible.
➢ Selfish and evil behaviors are the products of inadequate
social institutions and misunderstandings among leaders.
➢ Therefore, injustice, war, and aggression are not inevitable,
but rather can be moderated or eliminated through
institutional reform or collective action.
• The term, liberal in international relations theory is not used in the same way as
liberal in domestic politics.
 Liberalism: Roots
• Roots in thought of the ancient Greeks
➢Individuals are rational, able to understand
basic laws of nature and human society.
➢People have the capacity to improve their
condition by creating a just society.
➢If a just society is not created, fault lies with
inadequate institutions or a corrupt
environment.
 Liberalism: Origins
▪ The origins of liberal theory are found in:
➢Eighteenth-century Enlightenment optimism (which held
that individuals are rational human beings, able to
understand the universally applicable laws governing
nature and society).
➢Nineteenth-century political and economic liberalism
(which argued that democracy and free trade could
improve the human condition).
➢Twentieth-century Wilsonian idealism (which argued that
war is preventable through collective action).
 Liberalism: Core Assumptions
➢ The basis of liberalism remains firmly embedded in
the belief in the rationality of humans and in the
belief that through learning and education, humans
can develop institutions to bring out their best
characteristics.
 Tenets of the Liberal Tradition
• Prominent concept in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth
centuries (before World War I)
• Collective security adopted and promoted by U.S. president Wilson
➢Became the cornerstone of the League of Nations (United Nations)
• Two reasons the world is becoming more peaceful over time (Kant)
➢Reciprocity principle: states can learn to cooperate and build
international institutions to achieve mutual gains.
➢Identity principle: certain kinds of society or governments are
needed to make societies decide to not go to war.
 Neoliberal Institutionalism
• Neoliberal institutionalism asks why states choose to cooperate
most of the time even in the anarchic condition of the international
system.
• Based on the idea of complex interdependence which has three
components:
➢ States are connected through multiple channels, not just
through direct interactions.
➢ Hierarchy of issues: security is not the only concern. There are
other issues, -economic, cultural, diplomatic, etc.
➢ Decline in the use of military force.
 Neoliberal Institutionalism: Assumptions
• States are unitary rational actors that pursue self-
interest.
• Despite the existence of anarchy, interstate cooperation
can arise as states focus on absolute interests.
• International institutions and reciprocity foster
cooperation.
• Cooperation emerges not as a result of humanity’s
desire for positive change but as a result of self-interest.
Neoliberal Institutionalism: Other Liberal Theories
• For neoliberalism, international institutions such as NATO
are critical because they facilitate cooperation by many
nations.
• With the end of the Cold War, liberalism has achieved new
credibility.
➢ The democratic process inhibits aggression, and
international institutions that bind democracies together
act to constrain behavior.
➢ The decreasing frequency of interstate war seems to
support liberal theory.
 Neoliberal Institutionalism: Other Liberal Theories
Democratic peace
• Liberal democracies do not fight each other; shared norms and
culture inhibit aggression.
• A multitude of voices restrains leaders.
• Membership in common international institutions binds
democracies.
• Commercial peace: economic interdependence decreases the
likelihood of conflict.
• Membership in international institutions has a positive effect on
cooperation.
 Constructivism
• State behavior is shaped by elite beliefs,
identities, and social norms.
• Individuals forge, shape, and change culture
through ideas and practices.
• Interests at all levels are socially constructed via
constant interaction.
 Constructivism
Constructivism's major theoretical proposition is
that neither objects (such as states) nor concepts
(such as anarchy) have any necessary, fixed, or
objective meaning; rather, their meanings are
constructed through social interaction. For example,
they believe state behavior is shaped by elite beliefs,
identities, and social norms.
 Constructivism
• Individuals in collectivities forge, shape, and change
culture through ideas and practices. State and national
interests are the result of the social identities of these
actors, rather than being rooted in a material reality or
unchanging set of preferences.
• Many constructivists emphasize normative structures.
What we need to know is the nature of a social
identity, and identities change as a result of
cooperative behavior and learning.
 Constructivism
• Constructivists see power in discursive terms:
the power of ideas, culture, and language are as
important as material sources of power. Change
can thus occur not only through coercion, but
also through diffusion of ideas or the
internationalization of norms and socialization.
 Constructivism
• National interests are ever-changing and the
result of social identities of state actors.
• People bring meaning to material structures.
• International organizations can socialize states
and individuals to norms.
 Constructivism: Power and Change
• Power exists in every exchange, and ideas and
identity are its source.
• “Anarchy is what states make of it.”
• Sovereignty as a contested concept: states lack
exclusive control; sovereignty is continuously
challenged by new institutions and new needs.
 The Radical Perspective: Marxism
• Radicalism - Carries an unavoidable negative connotation-
Used in a neutral sense to describes a sharp departure from
the norm-one such norm is the state as a necessary form of
political association. For Radicals/Marxists/Anarchists
believe that the state is the problem.
➢ Assumes the primacy of economics for explaining virtually
all other phenomena, including international politics.
➢ Based on the writings of Karl Marx who developed a
theory of the evolution of capitalism based on economic
change and class conflict, are fundamental to all radical
thought.
 The Radical Perspective: Marxism
➢ An important set of radical theory centers on the structure of the
global system. That structure is the by-product of imperialism, or
the expansion of certain economic forms into other areas of the
world.
➢ John A. Hobson theorized that expansion occurs because of
overproduction and under consumption in the developed world.
This leads to imperialism in less-developed areas and rivalry for
markets among developed countries.
➢ Radical theorists emphasize that the domination and suppression
that arise from uneven economic development are inherent in the
capitalist system, enabling the dominant states to exploit the
underdogs.
 The Radical Perspective: Marxism
• Marx: economic determinism
➢In capitalism, private interests control labor and market
exchanges, which creates controls on the working classes
(proletariat)
➢Seeks to explain the relationship between means of
production, social relations, and power
➢Core beliefs are evolution from feudalism to capitalism,
which brought the bourgeois class to power, and the
primacy of economics for explaining phenomena
 The Radical Perspective: Marxism 2
• The global system is a hierarchical by-product of
imperialism: it seeks system change.
• Hobson
➢Imperialism caused by overproduction of goods and
services in the developed world, underconsumption of these
by underpaid lower classes in the developed world, and
over-saving by the upper classes
 The Radical Perspective: Dependency Theory
• Dependency theories: states are constrained by the
international economic system and multinational
corporations (MNCs); international banks establish,
maintain, and exploit dependent relationships.
➢Poorer states are locked into dependent relations
with richer states.
• Dependent theorist argue that the relationship
between dominant and dependent states is dynamic.
 The Radical Perspective: Dependency Theory
• The dominant states are the wealthiest and most
powerful. They produce the most profitable and
advanced products, have efficient governments, and
drive world politics. Ex. The USA.
• The dependent states produce raw materials /cheap
labor or goods and services, but do not produce
goods as profitable as dominant states. They also
have weak and often corrupt governments, and have
very little influence on world politics.
 Feminist Critiques of IR Theory
• Feminist theory has some similarities to constructivism in
that it looks at the manner in which world politics is socially
constructed, though it does so through the lens of gender.
• It is also similar to Marxism in that both advocate for
changes in the way the world operates.
• They argue specifically that social discourse has been
dominated by men, and that the exclusion of women's voices
affects the questions we ask and how we evaluate the
answers.
 Feminist Critiques of IR Theory
• The feminist approach can be broken into three themes:
1. The world would be different if more women were in leadership positions by
speculating that women would behave differently than men in positions of
power. Highly speculative concept.
➢ Would world politics be different if women held more or most leadership
positions in states?
2. Questions how our view of world politics would be different if it had not been
developed primarily by men.
➢ Is our entire way of thinking about international relations masculinized?
3. The focus is on the particular problems that women face in world politics.
➢ What impact does world politics have on women?
Theory in Action: Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Background of Russia-Ukraine conflict:
• Ukraine part of the Soviet Union until the collapse of USSR in 1991.
• In 2004 NATO expanded its membership east toward the Russian border.
• In 2008 NATO announced support for Ukrainian membership in the organization.
• In 2014 the pro-Russian government was replaced by a pro-western government
causing Russia to be concerned that Ukraine will be part of the west sphere of
influence and away from Russia.
• Pro-Russian protest broke out in the Russian speaking Crimean region.
• Pushed by Russian propaganda and military, the Crimean region secede from
Ukraine.
• Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
• The U.S., the E.U. and various other countries imposed sanctions on Russia.
Theory in Action: Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Realists: focus on security interests:
• Russia felt threated by the west into its sphere of influence.
• Russia tried to prevent the encroachment of the United States and EU
into its own sphere of influence.
• Russia aimed to weaken and destabilize Ukraine, preventing it from
being a power that the West could use against Russia.
• Russia used military actions as a necessary steps to protect its security.
• Russian willingness to use military allowed it to increase its military
power in the Black Sea.
• Increased military cooperation with Turkey and has involved it self in the
Syrian Civil war by helping them maintain a cease fire.
Theory in Action: Russia-Ukraine Conflict 2
Liberals: focus on domestic politics:
• The coming to power of a pro-Western government in Ukraine
represented a threat to Russia, prompting the Kremlin to destabilize
Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s desire to align itself with NATO and the EU also clashed
with Russia’s interests.
• Russia saw Ukrainian desire to join the E.U. as a threat to its
economic interest.
• By having agreements that facilitate trade between the E.U and
Ukraine, meant that the Ukraine will be more dependent on the E.U.
and less on Russia.
• Since Liberals rely on the importance of international institutions to
facilitate connections between states, Ukraine attempts to join the
E.U. cause Russia to fell threatened.
Theory in Action: Russia-Ukraine Conflict 3
Constructivists: focus on the importance of identities:
• The encroachment of the West into the Russian sphere of influence
is not, in and of itself, a threat to Russian interests.
• The threat was made real by divergent identities: the prodemocracy
identity of the West and the more autocratic leadership of Putin.
• Putin used Russian patriotic sentiments to not only to mobilize pro-
Russian identity among the Russian speaking people of the Crimean
Peninsula, but among the Russian people who supported the
annexation of Crimea.
 Key Terms
• Anarchy- In the international system there exist no superior authority that can
create law, resolve disputes or enforce law and order.
• Bandwagoning - (in alliances) siding with a rising power to gain benefits.
• Constructivism - a theory that argues reality is socially constructed or created by
the interactions within a society. What is “true” is determined by what a society
or group defines as true.
• Dependency Theorists- Trying to exert control over markets and companies.
• Institutions - structures, patterns, and mechanisms for establishing norms, rules,
order, and cooperation in world politics.
• liberalism - a major theoretical approach to international relations emphasizing
the role of individuals, norms, and institutions to explain pattern of cooperation
and conflict in world politics.
 Key Terms
• Neoliberal Institution – When states choose to cooperate most of the time even
under the anarchic conditions of the international system.
• Neorealism – Power is the most important factor in international relations. In
an anarchic system cooperation is difficult and cheating is a distinct possibility.
• Radicalism - describes a sharp departure from the norm-one such norm is the
state as a necessary form of political association. For Radicals believe that the
state is the problem.
• Realism - a major theoretical approach to international relations emphasizing the
competitive, conflict-ridden pursuit of power and security among states in world
politics.

• Theory - tools for explaining cause-and-effect relationships among often

complex phenomena.