Classical Realism is not ‘Everything, Everywhere, All at Once’
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Jonathan Kirshner
Abstract
In their assessments of An Unwritten Future: Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics, two distinguished scholars of World Politics engage in a spirited contestation about the role of classical realism in International Relations (IR) theory. Richard Ned Lebow aspires to defend the paradigm from what he suggests are barbarians at the gate. In this response I offer rejoinders to his treatment of E. H. Carr and Robert Gilpin, and his characterization of the ways in which we each engage Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War as an inspirational text. Stephen Krasner raises a number of thoughtful and savvy constructive criticisms of An Unwritten Future, some of which ring true. Yet he and I continue to markedly disagree about the importance of analytical uncertainty for understanding IR, and also with regard to the role of history in explaining behavior in world politics. And in an otherwise sophisticated critique, Krasner ultimately reduces classical realism to a caricature. In my response I clarify why in fact it is his preferred approach, structural realism, which, on its own, is irretrievably indeterminate and leaves scholars needing much more that its minimalist disposition can possibly hope to provide. I conclude with a short elaboration of why classical realism offers a more productive way forward.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Do Socially Constructed Norms have Moral Force? Précis to a Symposium
- Moralism and Realism in Theorizing Social Norms
- Two Types of Social Norms
- Political Obligations and Respect for Social Norms
- Must I Honor Your Convictions? On Laura Valentini’s Agency-Respect View
- Social Norms and Obligation: Rescuing the Joint Commitment Account
- General Part
- Moral Paradigms of Intergenerational Solidarity in the Coronavirus-Pandemic
- The Weight of History After October 7 and the Gaza War: Shaping a New Future
- Germany, Israel’s Security, and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism: Shadows from the Past and Current Tensions
- Kantian Rights and the Zionist Settlement in Palestine
- War and Self-Defense: Some Reflections on the War on Gaza
- Discussion
- What is Classical Realism?
- Do We Learn Anything from Kirshner?
- Classical Realism is not ‘Everything, Everywhere, All at Once’
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Do Socially Constructed Norms have Moral Force? Précis to a Symposium
- Moralism and Realism in Theorizing Social Norms
- Two Types of Social Norms
- Political Obligations and Respect for Social Norms
- Must I Honor Your Convictions? On Laura Valentini’s Agency-Respect View
- Social Norms and Obligation: Rescuing the Joint Commitment Account
- General Part
- Moral Paradigms of Intergenerational Solidarity in the Coronavirus-Pandemic
- The Weight of History After October 7 and the Gaza War: Shaping a New Future
- Germany, Israel’s Security, and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism: Shadows from the Past and Current Tensions
- Kantian Rights and the Zionist Settlement in Palestine
- War and Self-Defense: Some Reflections on the War on Gaza
- Discussion
- What is Classical Realism?
- Do We Learn Anything from Kirshner?
- Classical Realism is not ‘Everything, Everywhere, All at Once’
