At its core, the current war in Ukraine reflects an incompatibility of nationalist narratives. Many Ukrainians want to escape Russia’s imperial shadow. Putin wants to reextend that shadow – to erase Ukraine as an independent national identity.
Over the weekend IR Twitter was abuzz with both the Red Sox winning the world series and a multi-threaded discussion on liberal international order. Regarding the former I have very little to say...
Some weeks ago, Stephen Walt lamented the absence of realist commentators in the American media space. What was striking to me at the time was Walt’s claim that realism is a ‘well-known approach to...
Recently a friend and colleague wrote me to say: “The SS piece is actually really useful to me as a model for dealing with Political Science post paradigm wars.” Which prompts me (as...
There's been a fair amount of reporting on an interview that Medvedev gave to German ARD, in which he talked about seeking "constructive dialogue" with the European Union. He also laid out "five principles" of Russian foreign policy, including opposition to unipolarity and a defense of sphere of influence... most notably, Russia's. Paul Reynolds of the BBC provides a cynical analysis:Those therefore are the stated principles. What implications do they have?To take them in the order he presented them:The primacy of International Law: This on the face of it sounds encouraging. But Russia...
David Brooks has an Alanis Morisette moment (except this one really is ironic): But he has grown accustomed to putting on this sort of saccharine show for the rock concert masses, and in Berlin his act jumped the shark. His words drift far from reality, and not only when talking about the Senate Banking Committee. His Berlin Victory Column treacle would have made Niebuhr sick to his stomach.Obama has benefited from a week of good images. But substantively, optimism without reality isn’t eloquence. It’s just Disney.But when it comes down to it, Brooks is just being lazy with this column...
Donald Douglas over at American Power weighs in with a laudatory post about Brian Rathbun's recent article -- an article in which neoconservatism is equated with and defined as "moral nationalism." "Moral" here means that neoconservatism offers something other than a set of factual observations on which to base foreign policy, but instead spins out a normative justification for the rectitude of particular policies, particularly policies involving the use of military force in pursuit and promotion of American ideals and values. Douglas, an avowed neoconservative, is very much in favor of this...
Parag Khanna has, in essence, a précis of his forthcoming book in today's New York Times Magazine. The article, entitled, "Waving Goodbye to Hegemony", contends that American hegemony is already over, that we're seeing the emergence of three new "empires"--complete with different imperial styles--centered around the US, the EU, and China. Khanna thinks the US needs to adapt soon to his new great game, in which the "second world's" orientation will determine the global balance of power, and, among other things, abandon the us-versus-them attitude which undermines its influence and makes...
Not long ago, Charli posted about Deborah Boucoyannis' provocative Perspectives on Politics article, "The International Wanderings of a Liberal Idea, or Why Liberals Can Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Balance of Power" (PDF). A number of readers and contributors commented on Charli's post and the article. Now, Deborah responds:Note: I've put the original comments she's responding to in blockquotes. Her comments are formatted normally.Yet her attempt to redefine realism as, in essence, hegemonic-order theory strikes me as strained.Well, it’s not just hegemonic theory that I am defining...
Deborah Boucoyannis has published a thought-provoking article in this month’s Perspectives on Politics in which she argues that neo-realism is actually most consistent with classical liberalism, and in which she articulates a new way of distinguishing realist and liberal IR theory. If her argument is correct, most of us will have to completely rethink how we teach the two theories in our introductory classes.In particular, she argues that “the balance of power is a liberal prediction…” (underlying the checks and balances systems of liberal constitutionalism as well as the logic of economic...
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."Russia observers love to trot out Churchill's famous quote. In fact, people love to use this quote in all sorts of other contexts--to apply to pretty much anything that is difficult to comprehend.Churchill, however, made this statement in a radio address on October 1, 1939, and was referring to Soviet intentions in adopting the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the terms of under which the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany divided up...
Robert Farley points us to the latest chapter in the continuing story of "everything I need to know about Thucydides I learned from the Melian Dialogue."Let's all remember that while realists argue that the Melian Dialogue captures a basic truth of international politics, Thucydides was cataloging, in his view, Athenian hubris and self-immolation.