The Politics of Confusion in International Relations Theory
Author(s)
Watson, Bradley C. S.
Abstract
International relations theory is symptomatic of the disarray within the entire discipline. In an effort to paint a scientifically accurate picture of causality, contemporary international relations theory views the political world through a variety of prisms. Attempts are made to take account of individual, social, institutional, and systemic causes of international behavior through the use of complex “models.” We see in this expanded breakdown a variety of approaches that might previously have been subsumed under the labels “international” or “domestic” politics. In addition to the various levels of analysis, realist, neorealist, historical, and liberal approaches to the subfield abound. In this article I will ask a disquieting question: Has our knowledge of international politics been meaningfully enhanced by the quest for theory at the expense of understanding the nature of the primary political phenomena, including man, the political animal himself? To avoid being accused of attacking straw men, I will concentrate on Kenneth N. Waltz’s enormously influential Theory of International Politics ( 1979 ), which retains a central position in the subfield.
