International Engagements: The Politics of North American International Relations Theory

In: Political theory: an international journal of political philosophy, Band 29, Heft 3, S. 432-448

Abstract

A review essay on books by (1) Alan Gilbert, Must Global Politics Constrain Democracy? Great-Power Realism, Democratic Peace, and Internationalism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U Press, 1999); (2) Stephen Krasner, Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U Press, 1999); & (3) Alexander Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 1999). This review article analyzes the changing relationship over the last 30 years between different political theorists in the field of international relations as expounded in these three works. Gilbert points out a change in modern democratic theorizing during the Vietnam War era. Krasner discusses state sovereignty, contending that Westphalian sovereignty does not deserve the position it holds in international relations' view of world politics. Wendt discusses constructivism within international politics. E. Miller