International Relations Beginner's Guide
Realism, liberalism, constructivism — the theoretical lenses that explain how states behave.
Theory
Realism
States are the primary actors in an anarchic international system. Power and security dominate all other considerations. Key thinkers: Hobbes, Morgenthau, Waltz, Mearsheimer.
Key Points
- Classical realism (Morgenthau): state behavior reflects human nature — desire for power.
- Structural realism / neorealism (Waltz 1979): system structure, not human nature, drives behavior.
- Offensive realism (Mearsheimer): states maximize relative power, not just security.
- Defensive realism: states balance against threats but don't seek hegemony.
Liberalism
States cooperate when institutions, trade, and democracy lower the cost of cooperation. Key thinkers: Kant, Wilson, Keohane, Nye, Ikenberry.
Key Points
- Democratic peace theory: democracies rarely fight other democracies (Russett 1993, contested).
- Commercial peace: trade creates incentives against war (doesn't hold pre-WWI; EU is the strongest modern case).
- Institutional liberalism (Keohane): regimes reduce transaction costs and enable cooperation.
- Liberal international order (Ikenberry): US-led, rules-based system built post-1945.
Constructivism
International politics is shaped by ideas, identities, and norms — not just material power. Key thinkers: Wendt, Finnemore, Katzenstein.
Key Points
- Alexander Wendt's 'Anarchy is what states make of it' (1992) is the field's founding article.
- Norms matter: sovereignty, human rights, non-use of nuclear weapons are all constructed.
- Identity shapes interests — explains why 500 UK nukes don't scare the US but 10 North Korean ones do.
Marxism, feminism, critical theory
Key Points
- Marxist IR: class and capital, not states, are primary. World-systems theory (Wallerstein).
- Feminist IR: gender structures power and security (Tickner, Enloe). Why are militaries male?
- Post-colonial IR: the international system was built by and for colonial powers (Chakrabarty).
Levels of Analysis
Waltz's three images
Waltz's 'Man, the State, and War' (1959) remains the cleanest frame for choosing your unit of analysis.
Individual (Image 1)
Leaders, personalities, cognitive biases. Why did Putin invade Ukraine? Why did Kennedy blink in the Cuban Missile Crisis?
State (Image 2)
Domestic politics, regime type, public opinion. Democracies behave differently from autocracies.
System (Image 3)
Balance of power, polarity, anarchy. The Cold War looked similar regardless of who was in the White House.
Core Concepts
Power
Key Points
- Hard power: military, economic coercion.
- Soft power (Nye 1990): attraction — the appeal of a state's culture, values, and institutions.
- Smart power: the deliberate blend of hard and soft.
- Structural power: ability to set the rules of the game (Strange 1988).
Anarchy and sovereignty
International anarchy doesn't mean chaos — it means no overarching authority above states. Sovereignty (Westphalia 1648) is the state's exclusive authority over its territory.
The security dilemma
When State A arms defensively, State B interprets it as threatening and arms itself; A then arms more. Herz (1950) and Jervis (1978) are the canonical references.
FAQ
Which theory is right?
Each explains different phenomena well. Realism excels at great-power competition; liberalism at trade and institutions; constructivism at norms and identity shifts. Most working scholars are pragmatic eclectics.
How do theories view US-China competition?
Realists see Thucydides' Trap (Allison 2017) — rising powers and declining powers tend to fight. Liberals see institutional entanglement as a brake. Constructivists see divergent national identities and worldviews hardening.
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