It is often said that IR has become a complex and diverse field of study. With this expansion has come unclear limits as to what does, or does not, fall within the parameters of the field.
The Game of Thrones TV show and novels have become appealing to scholars as they touch on theoretical concepts and issues central to IR, and feature parallels to real-world events.
Students usually find theory the part of courses they enjoy least. The challenge, then, is to make theory accessible, to give the students something to do, rather than just something to listen to.
IR theorists face the challenge of situating religion in their explanations of global events, but, as Sandal argues, this does not necessarily require the abandoning of existing theories.
The biggest shortcoming of IR students is their lack of historical background. If this problem was corrected, it would greatly help their efforts at understanding the world around them.
While IR has grown far beyond its boundaries, the plurality of what we refer to as “international relations” has changed so dramatically that it is difficult for students to decide exactly where they should fall on the spectrum.
Scholars and public commentators need to integrate the insights of the realist logic of struggle for domination and security, with the liberal logic of political development and change.
Steve Walt is right that the world would be better off if realists ran U.S. foreign policy. But they never will do so until they learn how to sell their policy prescriptions to the American people.
The apparent US retrenchment from space in recent years shows some courage and wisdom. It is now time to focus on the future in a more sustainable way, and win back the command of the edge of space. That is the path chosen by President Obama, though, one must not forget the legacy of the Space Shuttle and the era it represented.
Realist arguments are a combination of two discrete, though often intersecting, literatures. The first emerging from the works of classical realists such as Thucydides and Machiavelli, and the second spreading across the history of Western philosophy. One of the most significant aspects of realism is its use of historical evidence, as if one can detect a timeless wisdom of world politics centred upon the principles of realpolitik
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