Realism’s Timeless Wisdom and its Relevance for the Global South

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 13 Sayı: 1, 1 - 19, 24.01.2024

Nicolas Alexander Beckmann Onur Erpul

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.1413433

Öz

Since the numerous calls for developing a truly global and plural IR discipline,
a growing spate of IR studies have sought to contextualize and critique the
Euro-centeredness of the field. One of the most significant problems scholars
have pointed out is the hegemonic status of Anglo-American IR theories, which
seemingly assert an ontological preeminence and universality at the expense of
local knowledge and homegrown theories. While the present article shares many
of global IR’s concerns, it nevertheless proposes that in our quest to teach IR
and develop homegrown theories, we should not lose sight of the importance
of traditional contributions to the field. Our argument is based on a series of
reflections about the relevance of realist scholarship for the developing world.
Through an analysis of the major criticisms of classical IR theories, we seek to
show that classical and, to a lesser extent, structural and neoclassical realism
contain several and diverse arguments that speak directly to audiences in
the global South. Classical realism, in particular, shares some interesting
commonalities with postcolonial theory, which could pave the way for a more
systematic engagement between the two approaches. Therefore, we argue that
a global IR founded primarily on critiquing classical theories would be an
impoverished IR, and “the thousand small steps” to a globalized discipline ought
not neglect the valuable insights and reflections of traditional theory.

Anahtar Kelimeler

IR theory, global IR, realism, postcolonialism

Kaynakça

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