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The main theories competing with constructivism are variants of realism, liberalism, and rational choice that emphasize materialism (the notion that the physical world determines political behavior on its own), and individualism (the notion that individual units can be studied apart from the broader systems that they are embedded in).
Whereas realism deals mainly with security and material power, and liberalism looks primarily at economic interdependence and domestic-level factors, constructivism concerns itself primarily with the role of ideas in shaping the international system; indeed it is possible that there is some overlap between constructivism and realism or ...
Realism, a school of thought in international relations theory, is a theoretical framework that views world politics as an enduring competition among self-interested states vying for power and positioning within an anarchic global system devoid of a centralized authority.
The English School of international relations theory (sometimes also referred to as liberal realism, the international society school or the British institutionalists) maintains that there is a 'society of states' at the international level, despite the condition of anarchy (that is, the lack of a global ruler or world state). The English ...
Realism and liberalism both agree that the international system is anarchic, and the self-interested state is the starting point for both theories. However, unlike realism, liberal theories argue that international institutions are able to mitigate anarchy's constraining effects on interstate cooperation. [16] This is where the two theories ...
Rational choice is not a substantive theory of international politics, but rather a methodological approach that focuses on certain types of social explanation for phenomena. [1] In that sense, it is similar to constructivism, and differs from liberalism and realism, which are substantive theories of world politics.
In a review of Social Theory of International Politics in Foreign Affairs G. John Ikenberry argued that the first section of the book is a "winding tour" of constructivism's underpinning. After this Wendt explores possible alternative "cultures" of international relations (Hobbesian, Lockean, and Kantian) a result of his view that anarchy does ...
In international relations theory, the Great Debates are a series of disagreements between international relations scholars. [1] Ashworth describes how the discipline of international relations has been heavily influenced by historical narratives and that "no single idea has been more influential" than the notion that there was a debate between utopian and realist thinking.