Abstract
Realism is dominant among contemporary theoreticians of international relations, and has been so for decades. Some of the most prominent authors identify themselves as realists. Contemporary realism, however, has mostly been presented in an unsystematic manner. Hans J. Morgenthau and Stanley Hoffmann, two of the chief representatives of the school, have never developed an orderly version of realism.1 Kenneth Waltz is different. In his Theory of International Politics2 he makes a serious effort to put balance of power theory on a disciplined and modern footing. To build on a sound foundation, Waltz starts out with a full chapter on scientific method and on theory. He then tackles substantive issues and does so in an innovative spirit and with unusual rigor.
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Notes
John Gerard Ruggie, “Continuity and Transformation in the World Polity: Toward a Neorealist Synthesis,“ World Politics vol. xxxv, no. 2, January 1983, p. 272.
Kenneth N. Waltz, Man, the State and War, Columbia University Press, New York 1954, pp. 159–238.
Robert G. Gilpin, “The richness of the tradition of political realism,” International Organization, vol. 38, no. 2, Spring 1984, p. 288.
Richard Rosecrance, The Rise of the Trading State, Commerce and Conquest in the Modern World, Basic Books, New York 1986.
Joseph S. Nye, Jr., “Neorealism and Neoliberalism,” World Politics, vol. XL, no. 2, January 1988, pp. 240, 246.
Grenville Clark and Louis B. Sohn, World Peace Through World Law, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 1958.
Richard Falk, Revitalizing International Law, Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA 1989, pp. 27–43.
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© 1994 Jürg Martin Gabriel
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Gabriel, J.M. (1994). Contemporary Theories. In: Worldviews and Theories of International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230390034_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230390034_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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