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Liberalism
From 1919 till1930s
"The discipline was born in an era when many believed that the reform of international politics was not only essential but
clearly achievable. It was the first area of liberal optimism." -
Period: to
The First Great Debate
Liberalism VS Realism
1919 till 1950s
The clash of the theories: "the double establishment of the discipline"
Ontological debate -
Realism
From 1930 till 1950s.
Reaction to the Economic crisis and WW2
"Despite the efforts of Wilson, liberalism failed to retain a strong hold and a new theory emerged to explain the continuing presence of war and conflicts. IR soon came to be occupied with a critique of liberal idealism and out of this emerged a new paradigm: Realism." -
Traditionalism
From 1950s till 1960s, Its based on historical patterns,
"The „traditional” approach is interpretive, more historical and better attuned to normative judgments." -
Period: to
The Second Great Debate
Behaviourism VS Traditionalism, 1950s till 1970s
Epistemological debate -
Behaviourism
From 1960s till 1970s.
"Economics used a sophisticated methodology drawn from
the natural sciences to test specific hypotheses, develop general laws and predict human behaviour. Proponents of the scientific approach attempted to build a new theory of international politics"
Which was the Behaviourism -
Neo-realism
1970s till 1980s
Kenneth N. Waltz’s main representative of this theory.
" Waltz regarded as the central puzzle of world politics is the international state-system and the struggle for power and security over several millennia" -
Neo liberalism
Prominent rise in 1970s
Robert O. Keohane John Burton, Ernst Haas.
"Liberal theories of interdependence and the later ‘neo-liberal institutionalist’ analysis of international regimes argued that the economic and technological development required new forms of international political cooperation." -
Neo-Marxism
1970s till 1980s
Immanuel Wallerstein one of the main representative of this theory.
"The reality for them was a system of global dominance and dependence which divided the world between North and South." -
Period: to
The Third Great Debate
Neo-Liberalism VS Neo-Realism VS Neo-Marxism. 1970s till 1980s Ontological debate
"This debate was called the neo-neo debate or the interparadigm
debate." -
Period: to
The Fourth Great Debate
Post-positivist approach (Constructivism) VS Positivist approach (Rational) END of 1980s till 1990s
Post cold war approaches, epistemological debate. -
Positivist approaches
Robert O. Keohane
"Science in IRs could be objective and measurable like natural sciences. Decisions are rational based on self-interest. " -
Post-positivist approach
Alexander Wendt
"Constructivism insists that facts in social sciences are not objective. For e.g. power as a concept is a subject of social consensus and not a pure measurable fact. Facts are constructed by society."
