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Jackson & Sørensen: Introduction to International Relations 3e

Chapter 03

  1. Briefly outline the basic ideas and assumptions of realism. Which ones are most basic? Explain.

  2. Why do realist theorists doubt and even deny that progressive change is possible in international relations? Are they right or wrong?

  3. Explain the core argument of one of the following classical realists: Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes.

  4. Why do classical realists, such as Machiavelli and Morgenthau, draw a firm distinction between political ethics and private morality. Are they correct in doing that?

  5. How plausible is Morgenthau's concept of neoclassical realist statecraft?

  6. Compare Machiavelli's Renaissance statecraft and Schelling's nuclear statecraft. How would you account for their areas of agreement and disagreement?

  7. What are the most important similarities and differences between Morgenthau's neoclassical realism and Waltz's structural realism?

  8. Review Mearsheimer's neorealist stability theory. How realistic is it?

  9. Some realists supported NATO expansion into Eastern Europe, but other realists criticized that policy. Which side had the better realist argument?

  10. Review the emancipatory critique of realism. How plausible is it?