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Senior 'American School' International Relations theorists — John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, Robert Keohane, and others — have evinced a growing concern about a rise of technocratic hypothesis-testing, and a parallel decline in grand theory. We share many of their concerns; yet, we also find such discussions deeply unsatisfying. Grand theory descends into 'technocracy' because of reifying and depoliticizing processes deeply woven into both thought and the academic vocation. While confronting such processes is possible, these same scholars are among those who dismiss — and have long dismissed — the key intellectual moves that would sustain such a confrontation. That infelicitous combination, we argue, is unlikely to produce a renaissance of grand theory; indeed, past precedent suggests that it will further stifle it. To suggest how these theorists might better revalorize grand theory, we develop disciplinary-historical case studies around two key research programs: neo-functionalism and structural liberalism. Both were the product of an abiding commitment to grand theory; yet, both fell into reified and depoliticized stances that left little space for such theory. Breaking that cycle of reification and depoliticization might yet be possible; but it will require thinking beyond the call for 'more grand theory.'

International Relations' constructivist turn – that body of approaches emerging in the late 1980s/early 1990s in which international outcomes were held to be predicated upon complex social arrangements, rules, norms, institutions, language and culture – emerged from a unique historical and intellectual moment. Initially, this theoretical turn was deeply committed to reflexivity and circumspection: since events were held to be contingent and theorists were bound up in them, the obligation to sustained critical self-reflection was central to the project. That commitment would not last, however. By the mid-1990s, it had given way to a 'middle ground' (or via media) position, which aligned itself with dominant materialist and rationalist methodologies and epistemologies. We wish to examine that moment of realignment: how it happened, and what it might mean. We argue that having imbibed a degree of the free-floating optimism that was 'in the air' in the 1990s, via media constructivism's leading scholars came to believe that it was no longer necessary to problematise the historicity and contingency of their own historical moment and philosophical horizons. The post-Cold War 'world', we hold – or, at any rate, one account of it – was 'too much with' via media constructivism: selectively constraining its reflexive impulses and critical tools in ways that, however unintentionally, provided cover for particular normative and ideological configurations. To move past this, we argue that via media constructivists need a sustainably critical ethos: one which 'repoliticises' international theory by unmasking its hidden ideological and political starting points.

"Featuring 16 new entries, International Relations: The Key Concepts, now in its fourth edition, is the essential guide for anyone interested in international affairs. Comprehensive and up to date, it introduces the most important themes in international relations"--

Thibault, Jean-François: Pertinence et actualité de la pensée internationale de Carl Schmitt. - S. 5-15. Ramel, Frédéric: Carl Schmitt face à Hans Kelsen. La joute se poursuit à l'échelle internationale. -S . 17-35. Stirk, Peter M.R.: Et l'ère à sa fin. Carl Schmitt et la conceptualisation des changements d'époque historique en relations internationales. - S. 37-54. Pasquier, Emmanuel: Carl Schmitt et la circonscription de la mesure dans la doctrine des "grands espaces". - S. 55-72. Odysseos, Louiza: Humanité, hostilité et ouverture de l'ordre politique dans la pensée internationale de Carl Schmitt. - S. 73-93. Barder, Alexander D. et François Debrix: Au-delà de la souveraineté biopolitique. Schmitt, Arendt, Foucault et les usages de la violence dans la politique internationale. - S. 97-124