International Theory

The False Dichotomy of the Material-Ideational Debate in IR Theory

Sulagna Basu • Nov 21 2019 • Essays

Contrary to what most IR theory perspectives envision, material and ideational forces are mutually constitutive, not oppositional.

Res Publica Christiana Revisited: International Organization in the Middle Ages

Declan McClean • Oct 31 2019 • Essays

A re-examination of Bull’s international society shows how the Middle Ages, while lacking modern states, maintained international organisation with the Catholic Church.

Terrorism and the End of Western Hegemony: A Gramscian Perspective

Chloé LALA- -GUYARD • Oct 24 2019 • Essays

Terrorists’ organizations are counter-hegemonic strategy that pose a threat to US hegemony, and these non-state structures operate along the Gramscian model.

Justified Alarmism? Assessing the Claim of a Contemporary ‘Authoritarian Wave’ 

Niccolo Fantini • Oct 9 2019 • Essays

Contrary to alarmist claims of a crisis of democracy, the ‘authoritarian wave’ is more likely to affect hybrid regimes over consolidated democracies.

Locating ‘the Everyday’ in ‘the International’: An Exploration

Rizky Alif Alvian • Oct 3 2019 • Essays

IR is dominated by a state-centric approach to geography; this can be rectified by rethinking spatial frameworks as relational to their historical social processes.

Gender and Security: Redefining the ‘State’ and a ‘Threat’

anon • Sep 28 2019 • Essays

Using a gender perspective, the dominant definitions of the ‘state’ and a ‘threat’ are re-defined to better understand security today.

Between Pepe and Beyoncé: The Role of Popular Culture in Political Research

Omer M. Manhaimer • Sep 18 2019 • Essays

Popular culture can act both as an analogous tool for political scientists and as a mirror for public attitudes.

To What Extent is the Realist School of IR Theory Useful for Policymakers?

Vaishnavi Mangalvedhekar • Sep 7 2019 • Essays

Due to contrasting aims of IR theory and practice, the processes drastically differ and limit the extent to which theory can be applied to practicing world politics.

Can Soldiers Refuse to Fight? The Limitations of Just War Theory

Elzanne Bester • Sep 1 2019 • Essays

Orthodox Just War Theory only holds soldiers morally accountable for how they conduct warfare. By doing so, it denies the right to refuse participation in unjust wars.

Resisting Necropolitics: Reconceptualizing Agency in Mbembé and Agamben

Jonas Skorzak • Aug 21 2019 • Essays

Mbembé’s “living dead” and Agamben’s “bare life” should be reconceptualized as performative acts in line with Butler’s theory, allowing for agency and acts of resistance.

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