Thucydides: An Author Still Relevant for the Contemporary Analysis of International Relations?

Abstract

The present paper aims to assess the relevance of Thucydides’s study for international relations, via
focusing on his most eminent text, The Peloponnesian War. The analysis of its relevance will be done
through a tripartite structure, in which the first two parts are symmetric. In a first part, the continuities
between Thucydides’ historical account and the realist and neorealist theory of international relations
will be analysed. While in a second part, the continuities between Thucydides’ historical account and
the constructivist theory of international relations will be dealt with. Finally, in a third part a limit will
be raised, via the study of the prescriptive accuracy of The Peloponnesian War (on the grounds of new
forms of violence).

Key words: Peloponnesian war, realism, constructivism, International Relations, relevance, limit.

Keywords

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