Realism and constructivism are international relations paradigms that define different necessary conditions for international organizations to act. While realists argue that international organization actions are mere reflections of the imperatives of global and regional balances of power, constructivists contend that these actions reflect not only power politics but norms and identity politics as well. Non-state-centric constructivists further argue that international organizations act as consensual communities and bureaucracies. I develop a set of four realist and four non-state-centric...

This book is an in-depth analysis of the classic works of leading theorists in the realist school of international relations. It criticizes the works of Carr, Morgenthau and Waltz, and their contributions to the continuous building and rebuilding of realism. It highlights their problematic assumptions, internal inconsistencies and failures to address important aspects of international relations. It also criticizes later realist attempts to fix serious problems of Waltzs theory in order to save the realist paradigm in international relations. Criticisms are based on a constructivist point of...