Realism and Institutionalism in International Studies represents a unique collection of original essays by foremost scholars in the field of International Studies. Six essays advocate, critique, or revise Realism, the theoretical paradigm that explains international politics by emphasizing security competition and war among states. The remaining four essays address Institutionalism, the paradigm that offers explanations for the formation, maintenance, variation, and significance of international institutions. The authors reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches and suggest research agendas for the future. Together, this volume provides an accessible and wide-ranging survey of the issues concerning two major paradigms in International Studies. This volume will be of interest to scholars and students alike and will undoubtedly determine the shape of future research. See table of contents and excerpts. Frank P. Harvey is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University. Michael Brecher is the R.B. Angus Professor of Political Science at McGill University and past president of the International Studies Association. Millennial Reflections on International Studies This volume is part of the Millennial Reflections on International Studies project in which forty-five prominent scholars engage in self-critical, state-of-the-art reflection on international studies to stimulate debates about successes and failures and to address the larger questions of progress in the discipline. Other paperbacks from this project: Conflict, Security, Foreign Policy, and International Political Economy: Past Paths and Future Directions in International Studies Evaluating Methodology Critical Perspectives in International Studies The full collection of essays is available in the handbook Millennial Reflections on International Studies.

Realism and constructivism, two key contemporary theoretical approaches to the study of international relations, are commonly taught as mutually exclusive ways of understanding the subject. Realist Constructivism explores the common ground between the two, and demonstrates that, rather than being in simple opposition, they have areas of both tension and overlap. There is indeed space to engage in a realist constructivism. But at the same time, there are important distinctions between them, and there remains a need for a constructivism that is not realist, and a realism that is not constructivist. Samuel Barkin argues more broadly for a different way of thinking about theories of international relations, that focuses on the corresponding elements within various approaches rather than on a small set of mutually exclusive paradigms. Realist Constructivism provides an interesting new way for scholars and students to think about international relations theory.

Forty-five prominent scholars engage in self-critical, state-of-the-art reflection on international studies to stimulate debates about successes and failures and to address the larger question of progress in the discipline. Written especially for the collection, these essays are in hardcover in the form of an easy-to-use handbook, and in paperback as a number of separate titles, each of which consists of a particular thematic cluster to merge with the range of topics taught in undergraduate and graduate courses in international studies. The themes addressed are realism, institutionalism, critical perspectives, feminist theory and gender studies, methodology (formal modeling, quantitative, and qualitative), foreign policy analysis, international security and peace studies, and international political economy. This collection provides an accessible and wide-ranging survey of the issues in the field as well as an invaluable bibliography, and will undoubtedly determine the shape of future research in international studies for the millennium. Paperbacks for course adoption: Realism and Institutionalism in International Studies Michael Brecher and Frank P. Harvey, Editors Conflict, Security, Foreign Policy, and International Political Economy:Past Paths and Future Directions in International Studies Michael Brecher and Frank P. Harvey, Editors Evaluating Methodology in International Studies Frank P. Harvey and Michael Brecher, Editors Critical Perspectives in International Studies Frank P. Harvey and Michael Brecher, Editors Contributors are: Steve J. Brams, Davis B. Bobrow, Michael Cox, Robert W. Cox, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Joseph M. Grieco, Ernst B. Haas , Peter M. Haas, Kal J. Holsti, Ole R. Holsti, Patrick James, Robert O. Keohane, Edward A. Kolodziej, Louis Kriesberg Robert T. Kudrle, David A. Lake, Yosef Lapid, Russell Leng , Jack S. Levy, L. H. M. Ling, Zeev Maoz, Lisa L. Martin, John J. Mearsheimer, Manus I. Midlarsky, Linda B. Miller, Helen Milner , Michael Nicholson, Joseph Nye, V. Spike Peterson , Jan Jindy Pettman, James Lee Ray , James Rosenau, Harvey Starr, J. David Singer, Steve Smith, Christine Sylvester, J. Ann Tickner, John Vasquez, Yaacov Y. I. Vertzberger, R. B. J. Walker, Stephen G. Walker , Jonathan Wilkenfeld, Oran Young, Marysia Zalewski, and Dina A. Zinnes. Michael Brecher is R. B. Angus Professor of Political Science, McGill University, and former president of the International Studies Association. Frank P. Harvey is Professor of Political Science and Director, Center for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University.

Critical and scientific realism have emerged as important perspectives on international relations in recent years. The attraction of these approaches lies in the claim that they can transcend the positivism vs postpositivism divide. This book demonstrates the vitality of this approach and the difference that 'realism' makes.

1. The realist tradition

After the Enlightenment is the first attempt at understanding modern political realism as a historical phenomenon. Realism is not an eternal wisdom inherited from Thucydides, Machiavelli or Hobbes, but a twentieth-century phenomenon rooted in the interwar years, the collapse of the Weimar Republic, and the transfer of ideas between Continental Europe and the United States. The book provides the first intellectual history of the rise of realism in America, as it informed policy and academic circles after 1945. It breaks through the narrow confines of the discipline of international relations and resituates realism within the crisis of American liberalism. Realism provided a new framework for foreign policy thinking and transformed the nature of American democracy. This book sheds light on the emergence of 'rational choice' as a new paradigm for political decision-making and speaks to the current revival in realism in international affairs.

This book moves scholarly debates beyond the old question of whether or not international institutions matter in order to examine how they matter, even in a world of power politics. Power politics and international institutions are often studied as two separate domains, but this is in need of rethinking because today most states strategically use institutions to further their interests. Anders Wivel, T.V. Paul, and the international group of contributing authors update our understanding of how institutions are viewed among the major theoretical paradigms in international relations, and they seek to bridge the divides. Empirical chapters examine specific institutions in practice, including the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency, and the European Union. The book also points the way to future research. International Institutions and Power Politics provides insights for both international relations theory and practical matters of foreign affairs, and it will be essential reading for all international relations scholars and advanced students.