CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Great Debates (international relations) - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"b469a67f-b356-4aa8-a019-9275c6101d4b","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Great_Debates_(international_relations)","wgTitle":"Great Debates (international relations)","wgCurRevisionId":1259256448,"wgRevisionId":1259256448,"wgArticleId":24718578,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","All articles with unsourced statements","Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021","International relations theory","Political debates","Political realism","Ideological rivalry"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Great_Debates_(international_relations)", "wgRelevantArticleId":24718578,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":10000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q2681245","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform" ,"platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.categoryTree.styles":"ready","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.categoryTree","ext.cite.ux-enhancements","ext.scribunto.logs","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp", "ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.categoryTree.styles%7Cext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Great Debates (international relations) - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Debates_(international_relations)"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Debates_(international_relations)"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Great_Debates_international_relations rootpage-Great_Debates_international_relations skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Great+Debates+%28international+relations%29" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Great+Debates+%28international+relations%29" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Great+Debates+%28international+relations%29" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Great+Debates+%28international+relations%29" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-First_Great_Debate" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#First_Great_Debate"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>First Great Debate</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-First_Great_Debate-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Second_Great_Debate" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Second_Great_Debate"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Second Great Debate</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Second_Great_Debate-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Third_Great_Debate" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Third_Great_Debate"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Third Great Debate</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Third_Great_Debate-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Third Great Debate subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Third_Great_Debate-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Criticism" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Criticism"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Criticism</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Criticism-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Fourth_Great_Debate" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Fourth_Great_Debate"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Fourth Great Debate</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Fourth_Great_Debate-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Criticism_2" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Criticism_2"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Criticism</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Criticism_2-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Debates (international relations)</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 7 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-7" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">7 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%89" title="الجدالات الكبرى – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="الجدالات الكبرى" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B8%D8%B1%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D8%A8%D8%B2%D8%B1%DA%AF_(%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B7_%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%86%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%84%D9%84)" title="مناظره‌های بزرگ (روابط بین‌الملل) – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="مناظره‌های بزرگ (روابط بین‌الملل)" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%8C%80%EB%85%BC%EC%9F%81_(%EA%B5%AD%EC%A0%9C%EC%A0%95%EC%B9%98%ED%95%99)" title="대논쟁 (국제정치학) – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="대논쟁 (국제정치학)" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perdebatan_Besar_(hubungan_internasional)" title="Perdebatan Besar (hubungan internasional) – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Perdebatan Besar (hubungan internasional)" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandes_debates" title="Grandes debates – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Grandes debates" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marile_Dezbateri" title="Marile Dezbateri – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Marile Dezbateri" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E8%BE%A9%E8%AE%BA_(%E5%9B%BD%E9%99%85%E5%85%B3%E7%B3%BB)" title="大辩论 (国际关系) – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="大辩论 (国际关系)" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q2681245#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Great_Debates_(international_relations)" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Great_Debates_(international_relations)" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Great_Debates_(international_relations)"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Great_Debates_(international_relations)"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Great_Debates_(international_relations)" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Great_Debates_(international_relations)" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&oldid=1259256448" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Great_Debates_%28international_relations%29&id=1259256448&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGreat_Debates_%28international_relations%29"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGreat_Debates_%28international_relations%29"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Great_Debates_%28international_relations%29&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q2681245" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Disagreements between IR scholars</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1246091330">.mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:22em;float:right;clear:right;margin:0.5em 0 1em 1em;background:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa);border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);padding:0.2em;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%;border-collapse:collapse;display:table}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:table!important;float:right!important;margin:0.5em 0 1em 1em!important}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-subgroup{width:100%;margin:0;border-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-left{float:left;clear:left;margin:0.5em 1em 1em 0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-none{float:none;clear:both;margin:0.5em 1em 1em 0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-outer-title{padding:0 0.4em 0.2em;font-size:125%;line-height:1.2em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-image{padding:0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-caption,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle-with-top-image,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-caption{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle{padding:0.4em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.2em 0.8em;font-size:145%;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-image{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-heading{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content{padding:0 0.5em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content-with-subgroup{padding:0.1em 0.4em 0.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-below{padding:0.3em 0.8em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-below{border-top:1px solid #aaa;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-navbar{text-align:right;font-size:115%;padding:0 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6em;font-size:105%}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title-c{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:center;margin:0 3.3em}@media(max-width:640px){body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1184024115"><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-title" style="font-size:125%;"><a href="/wiki/International_relations_theory" title="International relations theory">International relations theory</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Constructivism_(international_relations)" title="Constructivism (international relations)">Constructivism</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Feminist_constructivism" title="Feminist constructivism">Feminist constructivism</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Liberalism_(international_relations)" title="Liberalism (international relations)">Liberalism</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Idealism_in_international_relations" title="Idealism in international relations">Idealism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Democratic_peace_theory" title="Democratic peace theory">Democratic peace theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Capitalist_peace" title="Capitalist peace">Capitalist peace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Republican_liberalism" class="mw-redirect" title="Republican liberalism">Republican liberalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberal_institutionalism" title="Liberal institutionalism">Liberal institutionalism</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Marxist_international_relations_theory" title="Marxist international relations theory">Marxism</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dependency_theory" title="Dependency theory">Dependency theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theories_of_imperialism" title="Theories of imperialism">Theories of imperialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uneven_and_combined_development" title="Uneven and combined development">Uneven and combined development</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/World-systems_theory" title="World-systems theory">World-systems theory</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Realism_(international_relations)" title="Realism (international relations)">Realism</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Classical_realism_(international_relations)" title="Classical realism (international relations)">Classical realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neoclassical_realism" title="Neoclassical realism">Neoclassical realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neorealism_(international_relations)" title="Neorealism (international relations)">Neorealism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Offensive_realism" title="Offensive realism">Offensive realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Defensive_realism" title="Defensive realism">Defensive realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Territorial_peace_theory" title="Territorial peace theory">Territorial peace theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Democratic_peace_theory" title="Democratic peace theory">Democratic peace theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Realpolitik" title="Realpolitik">Realpolitik</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)">Other theories</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Gramscianism" title="Neo-Gramscianism">Neo-Gramscianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Critical_security_studies" title="Critical security studies">Critical security studies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Critical_international_relations_theory" title="Critical international relations theory">Critical theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_school_of_international_relations_theory" title="English school of international relations theory">English School</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intergovernmentalism" title="Intergovernmentalism">Intergovernmentalism</a> (<a href="/wiki/Liberal_intergovernmentalism" title="Liberal intergovernmentalism">liberal intergovernmentalism</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_political_economy" title="International political economy">International political economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Feminism_in_international_relations" title="Feminism in international relations">Feminism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Green_theory" title="Green theory">Green theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hegemonic_stability_theory" title="Hegemonic stability theory">Hegemonic stability theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Copenhagen_School_(international_relations)" title="Copenhagen School (international relations)">Copenhagen School</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Functionalism_(international_relations)" title="Functionalism (international relations)">Functionalism</a> (<a href="/wiki/Neofunctionalism" title="Neofunctionalism">neofunctionalism</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Postmodernism_(international_relations)" class="mw-redirect" title="Postmodernism (international relations)">Postmodernism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Postcolonial_international_relations" title="Postcolonial international relations">Postcolonialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intercommunalism" title="Intercommunalism">Intercommunalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_school_of_international_relations" title="Chinese school of international relations">Chinese school of international relations</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)">Classifications</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Postpositivism_(international_relations)" title="Postpositivism (international relations)">Postpositivism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rationalism_(international_relations)" title="Rationalism (international relations)">Rationalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reflectivism" title="Reflectivism">Reflectivism</a></li> <li>"<a class="mw-selflink selflink">Great Debates</a>"</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inter-paradigm_debate_in_international_relations_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Inter-paradigm debate in international relations theory">Inter-paradigm debate</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)">Other approaches</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/International_ethics" title="International ethics">International ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Historical_sociology" title="Historical sociology">Historical sociology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Regime_theory" title="Regime theory">Regime theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_cartel_theory" title="State cartel theory">State cartel theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geopolitics" title="Geopolitics">Geopolitics</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)">Scholars</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Michael_N._Barnett" title="Michael N. Barnett">Michael Barnett</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski" title="Zbigniew Brzezinski">Zbigniew Brzezinski</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hedley_Bull" title="Hedley Bull">Hedley Bull</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/E._H._Carr" title="E. H. Carr">E. H. Carr</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Daniel_Deudney" title="Daniel Deudney">Daniel Deudney</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michael_W._Doyle" title="Michael W. Doyle">Michael W. Doyle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cynthia_Enloe" title="Cynthia Enloe">Cynthia Enloe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/James_Fearon" title="James Fearon">James Fearon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Martha_Finnemore" title="Martha Finnemore">Martha Finnemore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Gilpin" title="Robert Gilpin">Robert Gilpin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samuel_P._Huntington" title="Samuel P. Huntington">Samuel P. Huntington</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Ikenberry" title="John Ikenberry">John Ikenberry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Jervis" title="Robert Jervis">Robert Jervis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_J._Katzenstein" title="Peter J. Katzenstein">Peter J. Katzenstein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Keohane" title="Robert Keohane">Robert Keohane</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Kissinger" title="Henry Kissinger">Henry Kissinger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stephen_D._Krasner" title="Stephen D. Krasner">Stephen D. Krasner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Mearsheimer" title="John Mearsheimer">John Mearsheimer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hans_Morgenthau" title="Hans Morgenthau">Hans Morgenthau</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_Nye" title="Joseph Nye">Joseph Nye</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kathryn_Sikkink" title="Kathryn Sikkink">Kathryn Sikkink</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Susan_Strange" title="Susan Strange">Susan Strange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/J._Ann_Tickner" title="J. Ann Tickner">J. Ann Tickner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Wallerstein" title="Immanuel Wallerstein">Immanuel Wallerstein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stephen_Walt" title="Stephen Walt">Stephen Walt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Waltz" title="Kenneth Waltz">Kenneth Waltz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alexander_Wendt" title="Alexander Wendt">Alexander Wendt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yan_Xuetong" title="Yan Xuetong">Yan Xuetong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qin_Yaqing" title="Qin Yaqing">Qin Yaqing</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:lavender;color: var(--color-base)">Categories</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content plainlist"><div class="div-col"> <div class="CategoryTreeTag" data-ct-options="{"mode":0,"hideprefix":20,"showcount":false,"namespaces":false,"notranslations":false}"><div class="CategoryTreeSection"><div class="CategoryTreeItem"><span class="CategoryTreeBullet"><a class="CategoryTreeToggle" data-ct-title="International_relations" aria-expanded="false"></a> </span> <bdi dir="ltr"><a href="/wiki/Category:International_relations" title="Category:International relations">International relations</a></bdi></div><div class="CategoryTreeChildren" style="display:none"></div></div></div> </div></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below"> <span class="nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:A_coloured_voting_box.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg/16px-A_coloured_voting_box.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg/24px-A_coloured_voting_box.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg/32px-A_coloured_voting_box.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="160" data-file-height="160" /></a></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Politics" title="Portal:Politics">Politics portal</a></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:International_relations_theory" title="Template:International relations theory"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:International_relations_theory" title="Template talk:International relations theory"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:International_relations_theory" title="Special:EditPage/Template:International relations theory"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In <a href="/wiki/International_relations_theory" title="International relations theory">international relations theory</a>, the <b>Great Debates</b> are a series of disagreements between international relations scholars.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Ashworth describes how the discipline of international relations has been heavily influenced by historical narratives and that "no single idea has been more influential" than the notion that there was a debate between utopian and realist thinking.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="First_Great_Debate">First Great Debate</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: First Great Debate"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Liberalism_in_international_relations_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Liberalism in international relations theory">Liberalism in international relations theory</a>, <a href="/wiki/Idealism_in_international_relations" title="Idealism in international relations">Idealism in international relations</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Realism_in_international_relations" class="mw-redirect" title="Realism in international relations">Realism in international relations</a></div> <p>The "First Great Debate" also known as the "Realist-Idealist Great Debate"<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> was a dispute between idealists and realists which took place in the 1920s and 1930s<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and which was fundamentally about how to deal with <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Realist scholars emphasized the anarchical nature of international politics and the need for state survival. Idealists emphasized the possibility of international institutions such as the League of Nations. However, some have argued that defining the debate between realism and idealism in terms of a great debate is a misleading caricature and so described the "great debate" as a myth.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p> According to revisionist narrative,<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> there was never a single 'great debate' between idealism and realism. Lucian M. Ashworth argues, the persistence of the notion that there was a real debate between idealism and realism, says less about the actual discussions of the time, and more about the marginalisation of liberal and normative thinking in the international relations in the post-war period.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Richard Devetak wrote in his international relations textbook:</p><blockquote><p>The structure of <a href="/wiki/E._H._Carr" title="E. H. Carr">Carr</a>’s masterpiece revolves around the dichotomy between realism and liberalism. In fact, he helped create the impression that the newly established discipline was dominated by a debate between realism and liberalism. This subsequently became known as the ‘first great debate’, although – as Andreas Osiander (1998), Peter Wilson (1998), Lucian Ashworth (1999), and Quirk and Vigneswaran (2005) have shown – no debate actually occurred, if by that we mean a series of exchanges between realists and liberals. Indeed, recent work suggests that the very idea of narrating the discipline’s history as a series of ‘great debates’ is questionable. Even so, it is important for students to learn and appreciate the stories the discipline has told about itself, which is why I persist with the narrative.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Second_Great_Debate">Second Great Debate</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Second Great Debate"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The "Second Great Debate" was a dispute between "scientific IR" scholars who sought to refine scientific methods of inquiry in international relations theory and those who insisted on a more historicist/interpretative approach to international relations theory. The debate is termed "realists versus behaviourists" or "traditionalism versus scientism".<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This debate would be resolved when <a href="/wiki/Neorealism_(international_relations)" title="Neorealism (international relations)">neorealists</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Waltz" title="Kenneth Waltz">Kenneth Waltz</a> (1959, 1979) adopt a Behaviouralist, and hence positivist scientific approach to their studies. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Third_Great_Debate">Third Great Debate</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Third Great Debate"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The "Third Great Debate" refers to the interparadigm debate between proponents of <a href="/wiki/Liberalism_in_international_relations_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Liberalism in international relations theory">liberalist</a>, <a href="/wiki/Realism_in_international_relations_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Realism in international relations theory">realist</a> and <a href="/wiki/Marxist" class="mw-redirect" title="Marxist">Marxist</a> international relations theories,<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> as well as the academic debate between proponents of realism, institutionalism and structuralism.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (October 2021)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> This debate was topical during the 1970s and 1980s.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Criticism">Criticism</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Criticism"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Some scholars have lamented the so-called "paradigm wars", particularly between (neo)realism and (neo)liberalism. Jack S. Levy argues that while the realism-liberalism debate “has imposed some order on a chaotic field,” the distinction ignores diversity within each of the two camps and inhibits attempts at synthesis. Levy suggests instead focusing on making testable predictions and leaving “the question of whether a particular approach fits into a liberal or realist framework to the intellectual historians.”<sup id="cite_ref-Levy1998_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Levy1998-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Bear F. Braumoeller likewise proposes that the “temporary theoretical convenience” of separating realism and liberalism “was transformed into ossified ontology” that inhibited attempts at theoretical synthesis. Socialization also leads to a situation where “scholars working primarily within one paradigm who attempt [to combine paradigms] are likely to be chastised for theoretical impurity.”<sup id="cite_ref-Braumoeller2009_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Braumoeller2009-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Fourth_Great_Debate">Fourth Great Debate</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Fourth Great Debate"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Post-positivism_in_international_relations_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Post-positivism in international relations theory">Post-positivism in international relations theory</a></div> <p>The "Fourth Great Debate" was a debate between <a href="/wiki/Positivism_(international_relations)" class="mw-redirect" title="Positivism (international relations)">positivist</a> theories and <a href="/wiki/Post-positivism_(international_relations)" class="mw-redirect" title="Post-positivism (international relations)">post-positivist</a> theories of international relations. Confusingly, it is often described in literature as "The Third Great Debate" by those who reject the description of the inter-paradigm debate as a Great Debate.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This debate is concerned with the underlying <a href="/wiki/Epistemology" title="Epistemology">epistemology</a> of international relations scholarship and is also described as a debate between "<a href="/wiki/Rationalism_in_international_relations_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Rationalism in international relations theory">rationalists</a>" and "<a href="/wiki/Reflectivism" title="Reflectivism">reflectivists</a>".<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The debate was started by <a href="/wiki/Robert_Keohane" title="Robert Keohane">Robert Keohane</a> in an <a href="/wiki/International_Studies_Association" title="International Studies Association">International Studies Association</a> debate in 1988 and can be considered an epistemological debate, about how we can know 'things' rather than an ontological one,<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that is to say a debate about what we can claim to know. As Balzacq and Baele summarize, this debate is "a discussion which, in the 1980s and 1990s, followed a composite claim for a more diverse, less epistemologically and ontologically naïve, and more critical IR".<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Criticism_2">Criticism</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Criticism"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Steve Smith has argued that the differing positions have largely ignored each other meaning that it makes little sense to talk of 'debates' between rival theoretical frameworks.<sup id="cite_ref-autogenerated726_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-autogenerated726-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Emmanuel_Navon" title="Emmanuel Navon">Emmanuel Navon</a> has argued that the three debates are a sham since there is nothing new about debating human nature and human knowledge, while the 'third debate' artificially imports the deconstructionist French fad into the study of International Relations.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Rationalist%E2%80%93constructivist_debate" title="Rationalist–constructivist debate">Rationalist–constructivist debate</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ken Booth, Michael Cox, Timothy Dunne,The eighty years' crisis: international relations 1919-1999, Issue 1, p1: "The story of international relations is conveniently told in a series of 'great debates'.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">LM Ashworth, Did the Realist-Idealist Great Debate Really Happen? a Revisionist History of International Relations,International Relations, Vol. 16, No. 1, p31 (2002)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">LM Ashworth, Did the Realist-Idealist Great Debate Really Happen? a Revisionist History of International Relations,International Relations, Vol. 16, No. 1, 33-51 (2002)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ken Booth, Michael Cox, Timothy Dunne,The eighty years' crisis: international relations 1919-1999, Issue 1, p1</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Richard Devetak, Anthony Burke, Jim George (2007) <i>An Introduction to International Relations: Australian Perspectives</i>, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 90</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Vigneswaran, Darsha, International relations’ first great debate : context and tradition.<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0%2B7315%2B3133%2B7" title="Special:BookSources/0+7315+3133+7">0 7315 3133 7</a>, p5</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Peter Wilson (1998). The myth of the ‘First Great Debate’. Review of International Studies, 24 , pp 1-16</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wilson, P. (1998) ‘The Myth of the “First Great Debate”’, <i>Review of International Studies</i>, 24: 1–15.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFAshworth2002" class="citation journal cs1">Ashworth, Lucian M. (2002). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117802016001004">"Did the Realist-Idealist Great Debate Really Happen? A Revisionist History of International Relations"</a>. <i>International Relations</i>. <b>16</b>: 33–51. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0047117802016001004">10.1177/0047117802016001004</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=International+Relations&rft.atitle=Did+the+Realist-Idealist+Great+Debate+Really+Happen%3F+A+Revisionist+History+of+International+Relations&rft.volume=16&rft.pages=33-51&rft.date=2002&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1177%2F0047117802016001004&rft.aulast=Ashworth&rft.aufirst=Lucian+M.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1177%2F0047117802016001004&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreat+Debates+%28international+relations%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Devetak, R., George, J., & Percy, S. (eds.). (2017). <i>An Introduction to International Relations</i>. Cambridge University Press, p. 13</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Guzzini, Stefano (1998) Realism in international relations and international political economy: the continuing story of a death foretold, New York: Routledge, P. 32</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Weaver, Ole,The rise and fall of the Inter-paradigm debate, International theory: positivism and beyond, Steve Smith, Ken Booth, Marysia Zalewski, p151</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081122071928/http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199298334/01student/guide/ch01/">"Oxford University Press | Online Resource Centre | Chapter 01"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199298334/01student/guide/ch01/">the original</a> on 2008-11-22<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2021-10-20</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Oxford+University+Press+%26%23124%3B+Online+Resource+Centre+%26%23124%3B+Chapter+01&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oup.com%2Fuk%2Forc%2Fbin%2F9780199298334%2F01student%2Fguide%2Fch01%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreat+Debates+%28international+relations%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Levy1998-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Levy1998_14-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLevy1998" class="citation journal cs1">Levy, Jack S. (Jun 1998). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.polisci.1.1.139">"The Causes of War and the Conditions of Peace"</a>. <i>Annual Review of Political Science</i>. <b>1</b>: 139–165. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.polisci.1.1.139">10.1146/annurev.polisci.1.1.139</a></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Annual+Review+of+Political+Science&rft.atitle=The+Causes+of+War+and+the+Conditions+of+Peace&rft.volume=1&rft.pages=139-165&rft.date=1998-06&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1146%2Fannurev.polisci.1.1.139&rft.aulast=Levy&rft.aufirst=Jack+S.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1146%252Fannurev.polisci.1.1.139&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreat+Debates+%28international+relations%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Braumoeller2009-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Braumoeller2009_15-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBraumoeller2009" class="citation book cs1">Braumoeller, Bear F. (2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.braumoeller.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Rediscovering_Complexity.pdf">"Rediscovering Complexity and Synthesis"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>The Future of Political Science: 100 Perspectives</i> (1 ed.). New York: Routledge Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0415997010" title="Special:BookSources/978-0415997010"><bdi>978-0415997010</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Rediscovering+Complexity+and+Synthesis&rft.btitle=The+Future+of+Political+Science%3A+100+Perspectives&rft.place=New+York&rft.edition=1&rft.pub=Routledge+Press&rft.date=2009&rft.isbn=978-0415997010&rft.aulast=Braumoeller&rft.aufirst=Bear+F.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.braumoeller.info%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F12%2FRediscovering_Complexity.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreat+Debates+%28international+relations%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Y Lapid, The third debate: On the prospects of international theory in a post-positivist era, International Studies Quarterly (1989) 33, 235–254</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Smith, Steve (2007) "Introduction" in T. Dunne. M. Kuki, and S. Smith (eds.) International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 10</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Smith, S, (2007) 'Introduction' in Dunne, T., Kuki, M. and Smith, S. (eds.) <i>International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity</i>. Oxford: OUP. p. 5</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781444336597_yr2015_chunk_g978144433659719_ss1-33">"The Third Debate and Postpositivism : The International Studies Encyclopedia : Blackwell Reference Online"</a>. <i>www.blackwellreference.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2016-12-12</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.blackwellreference.com&rft.atitle=The+Third+Debate+and+Postpositivism+%3A+The+International+Studies+Encyclopedia+%3A+Blackwell+Reference+Online&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackwellreference.com%2Fpublic%2Ftocnode%3Fid%3Dg9781444336597_yr2015_chunk_g978144433659719_ss1-33&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreat+Debates+%28international+relations%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-autogenerated726-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-autogenerated726_20-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Smith, S. (2008) <i>The Oxford Handbook of International Relations</i>, C. Reus-Smit, D. Snidal (eds.),Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 726</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFNavon2001" class="citation journal cs1">Navon, Emmanuel (2001). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20097763">"The 'Third Debate' Revisited"</a>. <i>Review of International Studies</i>. <b>27</b> (4): 611–625. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0260210501006118">10.1017/S0260210501006118</a>. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20097763">20097763</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Review+of+International+Studies&rft.atitle=The+%27Third+Debate%27+Revisited&rft.volume=27&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=611-625&rft.date=2001&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1017%2FS0260210501006118&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F20097763%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft.aulast=Navon&rft.aufirst=Emmanuel&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F20097763&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreat+Debates+%28international+relations%29" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Darshan Vigneswaran, Joel Quirk, International relations' first great debate: context and tradition, Issue 2001; Issue 2004 of Working paper, Dept. of International Relations, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 2004</li> <li>Mohamed Hamchi, “IR Fourth Debate: Pluralistic or Hegemonic? Limitations to Bridging the Gap,” Algerian Review of Security and Development, Issue n°1, July 2011.</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1184024115"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="International_relations_theory" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:International_relations_theory" title="Template:International relations theory"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:International_relations_theory" title="Template talk:International relations theory"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:International_relations_theory" title="Special:EditPage/Template:International relations theory"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="International_relations_theory" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/International_relations_theory" title="International relations theory">International relations theory</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Constructivism_(international_relations)" title="Constructivism (international relations)">Constructivism</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Feminist_constructivism" title="Feminist constructivism">Feminist constructivism</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Liberalism_(international_relations)" title="Liberalism (international relations)">Liberalism</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Idealism_in_international_relations" title="Idealism in international relations">Idealism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Democratic_peace_theory" title="Democratic peace theory">Democratic peace theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Capitalist_peace" title="Capitalist peace">Capitalist peace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Republican_liberalism" class="mw-redirect" title="Republican liberalism">Republican liberalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberal_institutionalism" title="Liberal institutionalism">Liberal institutionalism</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Marxist_international_relations_theory" title="Marxist international relations theory">Marxism</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dependency_theory" title="Dependency theory">Dependency theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theories_of_imperialism" title="Theories of imperialism">Theories of imperialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uneven_and_combined_development" title="Uneven and combined development">Uneven and combined development</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/World-systems_theory" title="World-systems theory">World-systems theory</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Realism_(international_relations)" title="Realism (international relations)">Realism</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Classical_realism_(international_relations)" title="Classical realism (international relations)">Classical realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neoclassical_realism" title="Neoclassical realism">Neoclassical realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neorealism_(international_relations)" title="Neorealism (international relations)">Neorealism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Offensive_realism" title="Offensive realism">Offensive realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Defensive_realism" title="Defensive realism">Defensive realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Territorial_peace_theory" title="Territorial peace theory">Territorial peace theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Democratic_peace_theory" title="Democratic peace theory">Democratic peace theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Realpolitik" title="Realpolitik">Realpolitik</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other theories</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Gramscianism" title="Neo-Gramscianism">Neo-Gramscianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Critical_security_studies" title="Critical security studies">Critical security studies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Critical_international_relations_theory" title="Critical international relations theory">Critical theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_school_of_international_relations_theory" title="English school of international relations theory">English School</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intergovernmentalism" title="Intergovernmentalism">Intergovernmentalism</a> (<a href="/wiki/Liberal_intergovernmentalism" title="Liberal intergovernmentalism">liberal intergovernmentalism</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_political_economy" title="International political economy">International political economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Feminism_in_international_relations" title="Feminism in international relations">Feminism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Green_theory" title="Green theory">Green theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hegemonic_stability_theory" title="Hegemonic stability theory">Hegemonic stability theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Copenhagen_School_(international_relations)" title="Copenhagen School (international relations)">Copenhagen School</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Functionalism_(international_relations)" title="Functionalism (international relations)">Functionalism</a> (<a href="/wiki/Neofunctionalism" title="Neofunctionalism">neofunctionalism</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Postmodernism_(international_relations)" class="mw-redirect" title="Postmodernism (international relations)">Postmodernism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Postcolonial_international_relations" title="Postcolonial international relations">Postcolonialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intercommunalism" title="Intercommunalism">Intercommunalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_school_of_international_relations" title="Chinese school of international relations">Chinese school of international relations</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Classifications</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Postpositivism_(international_relations)" title="Postpositivism (international relations)">Postpositivism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rationalism_(international_relations)" title="Rationalism (international relations)">Rationalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reflectivism" title="Reflectivism">Reflectivism</a></li> <li>"<a class="mw-selflink selflink">Great Debates</a>"</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inter-paradigm_debate_in_international_relations_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Inter-paradigm debate in international relations theory">Inter-paradigm debate</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other approaches</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/International_ethics" title="International ethics">International ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Historical_sociology" title="Historical sociology">Historical sociology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Regime_theory" title="Regime theory">Regime theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_cartel_theory" title="State cartel theory">State cartel theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geopolitics" title="Geopolitics">Geopolitics</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Scholars</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Michael_N._Barnett" title="Michael N. Barnett">Michael Barnett</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski" title="Zbigniew Brzezinski">Zbigniew Brzezinski</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hedley_Bull" title="Hedley Bull">Hedley Bull</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/E._H._Carr" title="E. H. Carr">E. H. Carr</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Daniel_Deudney" title="Daniel Deudney">Daniel Deudney</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michael_W._Doyle" title="Michael W. Doyle">Michael W. Doyle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cynthia_Enloe" title="Cynthia Enloe">Cynthia Enloe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/James_Fearon" title="James Fearon">James Fearon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Martha_Finnemore" title="Martha Finnemore">Martha Finnemore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Gilpin" title="Robert Gilpin">Robert Gilpin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samuel_P._Huntington" title="Samuel P. Huntington">Samuel P. Huntington</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Ikenberry" title="John Ikenberry">John Ikenberry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Jervis" title="Robert Jervis">Robert Jervis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_J._Katzenstein" title="Peter J. Katzenstein">Peter J. Katzenstein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Keohane" title="Robert Keohane">Robert Keohane</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Kissinger" title="Henry Kissinger">Henry Kissinger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stephen_D._Krasner" title="Stephen D. Krasner">Stephen D. Krasner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Mearsheimer" title="John Mearsheimer">John Mearsheimer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hans_Morgenthau" title="Hans Morgenthau">Hans Morgenthau</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_Nye" title="Joseph Nye">Joseph Nye</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kathryn_Sikkink" title="Kathryn Sikkink">Kathryn Sikkink</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Susan_Strange" title="Susan Strange">Susan Strange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/J._Ann_Tickner" title="J. Ann Tickner">J. Ann Tickner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Wallerstein" title="Immanuel Wallerstein">Immanuel Wallerstein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stephen_Walt" title="Stephen Walt">Stephen Walt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Waltz" title="Kenneth Waltz">Kenneth Waltz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alexander_Wendt" title="Alexander Wendt">Alexander Wendt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yan_Xuetong" title="Yan Xuetong">Yan Xuetong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qin_Yaqing" title="Qin Yaqing">Qin Yaqing</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Categories</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><div class="div-col"> <div class="CategoryTreeTag" data-ct-options="{"mode":0,"hideprefix":20,"showcount":false,"namespaces":false,"notranslations":false}"><div class="CategoryTreeSection"><div class="CategoryTreeItem"><span class="CategoryTreeBullet"><a class="CategoryTreeToggle" data-ct-title="International_relations" aria-expanded="false"></a> </span> <bdi dir="ltr"><a href="/wiki/Category:International_relations" title="Category:International relations">International relations</a></bdi></div><div class="CategoryTreeChildren" style="display:none"></div></div></div> </div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div><span class="nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:A_coloured_voting_box.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg/16px-A_coloured_voting_box.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg/24px-A_coloured_voting_box.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/01/A_coloured_voting_box.svg/32px-A_coloured_voting_box.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="160" data-file-height="160" /></a></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Politics" title="Portal:Politics">Politics portal</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&oldid=1259256448">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&oldid=1259256448</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:International_relations_theory" title="Category:International relations theory">International relations theory</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Political_debates" title="Category:Political debates">Political debates</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Political_realism" title="Category:Political realism">Political realism</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Ideological_rivalry" title="Category:Ideological rivalry">Ideological rivalry</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_with_unsourced_statements" title="Category:All articles with unsourced statements">All articles with unsourced statements</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_unsourced_statements_from_October_2021" title="Category:Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021">Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 24 November 2024, at 06:03<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Debates_(international_relations)&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-55zsq","wgBackendResponseTime":140,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.418","walltime":"0.549","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1565,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":60432,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":1497,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":15,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":7,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":52470,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 495.324 1 -total"," 29.46% 145.933 1 Template:International_relations_theory_sidebar"," 29.08% 144.021 1 Template:International_relations_theory"," 28.62% 141.766 1 Template:Sidebar_with_collapsible_lists"," 14.99% 74.267 1 Template:Short_description"," 14.80% 73.319 3 Template:Cite_journal"," 10.21% 50.573 1 Template:ISBN"," 9.14% 45.293 2 Template:Pagetype"," 8.56% 42.382 1 Template:International_relations_theories"," 8.30% 41.120 1 Template:Catalog_lookup_link"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.256","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":5805231,"limit":52428800},"limitreport-logs":"table#1 {\n [\"size\"] = \"tiny\",\n}\ntable#1 {\n [\"size\"] = \"tiny\",\n}\n"},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-pvdvh","timestamp":"20241124060334","ttl":21600,"transientcontent":true}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Great Debates (international relations)","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Great_Debates_(international_relations)","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q2681245","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q2681245","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2009-10-16T22:36:02Z","dateModified":"2024-11-24T06:03:31Z","headline":"series of disagreements between international relations scholars"}</script> </body> </html>