-
1919: the birth of the discipline
The first school dedicated to analyse diplomacy and balance of power grew after the destruction of WWI which results lead to develope a new separate discipline called IRs.
This school was basically permeated by the liberal optimism of the time, so the the main thought was exactly the liberal one, focused on reaching peace through international organizations. -
1930: severe criticism against liberals
The great economic crysis of the 1929 showed to the world the gaps inside the liberal thought applied to economics and IRs,creating the ground on which will grow the first great debate around the discipline during 1950s and 1960s -
WW2 and the obsolescence of IOs
Another great strike against one of the strongholds for liberals is the start of WW2 which proved that actually every State is always concerned in developing itself (sometimes against others) despite international organizations and agreements. International relations are power politics relations. -
Period: to
the first great debate: liberalism vs realism
The "ontological" debate corcerning the subject matter of the discipline revolving around the 2 fundamental questions of the approaches. -
the realist approach
interested in analyse how power politics works, the balance of power and the offensive-defensive strategies -
the liberal approach
based on the question: what to do to avoid war and tending to create International organizations to reach this goal -
Period: to
the second great debate: behaviourism vs traditionalism
the "epistemological" debate, that means how to analyse IRs to discover which is the best way to analyse and acquire knowledge about them. -
traditionalist approach
Traditionalism: interpretive approach which uses history to analyse IRs in a more attuned to normative judgment
(H. Bull in picture) -
the behaviourist approach
Behaviourism uses natural science to study and predict human behaviour through IRs.
(M. Kaplan in picture) -
youth disputes
-
Period: to
the third great debate
A new ontological debate, called even neo-neo debate or interparadigm debate (because of the broad spectrum on contending approaches). -
neo-marxist approach
Consider IRs as a system which have to deal with social forces that cause inequalities and dominance and divide the world between North and South.
(I. Wallerstein in picture) -
neo-realist approach
Consider the international state-system and the struggle for power and security over several millennia. For Waltz theory must abstract from the numerous different forces at work in international politics.
(K. Waltz in picture) -
neo-liberal approach
Thinks that the economic and technological development required new forms of international political cooperation.
(J. Burton in picture) -
costructivist approach
Considers facts in social sciences as non-objective because facts are constructed by society.
(A. Wendt) -
positivist approaches
marxism-liberalism-realism.
Consider that science in IRs could be objective and measurable like natural sciences. Decisions are rational based on self-interest. -
Period: to
the fourth great debate
Epistemological debate after the end of the Cold War. -
Soviet Union dissolution-End of the Cold War
