Neoclassical realism is a
theory of international relations and an approach to
foreign policy analysis
Foreign policy analysis (FPA) is a branch of political science dealing with theory development and empirical study regarding the processes and outcomes of foreign policy.
FPA is the study of the management of external relations and activities o ...
. Initially coined by
Gideon Rose in a 1998 ''
World Politics'' review article, it is a combination of
classical realist and
neorealist – particularly
defensive realist – theories.
Neoclassical realism holds that the actions of a state in the international system can be explained by intervening systemic variables, such as the distribution of power capabilities among states; cognitive variables, such as the perception and misperception of systemic pressures, other states' intentions, or threats; and domestic variables, such as state institutions, elites, and societal actors that affect the power and freedom of action of the
foreign policy decision-makers.
Overview
While holding true to the realist concept of
balance of power, neoclassical realism further adds that states' mistrust and inability to perceive one another accurately, or state leaders' inability to mobilize state power and public support, can result in imbalances within the international system, the rise and fall of
great powers, and war. There are four variations of power balance:
* ''Appropriate balancing'' occurs when a state correctly perceives another state's intentions and balances accordingly.
* ''Inappropriate balancing'' or ''overbalancing'' occurs when a state incorrectly perceives another state as threatening, and uses more resources than it needs to in order to balance. This causes an imbalance.
* ''Underbalancing'' occurs when a state fails to balance, out of either inefficiency or incorrectly perceiving a state as less of threat than it actually is. This causes an imbalance.
* ''Nonbalancing'' occurs when a state avoids balancing through
buck passing,
bandwagoning, or other escapes. A state may choose to do this for a number of reasons, including an inability to balance.
According to Nicholas Ross Smith of
University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Neoclassical realism has primarily been criticized for its "apparent ontological and epistemological incoherence". A 1995 study criticized Neoclassical realism for encompassing "nearly the entire universe of
international relations theory" and stretching realism "beyond all recognition or utility." According to
Stephen Walt
Stephen Martin Walt (born July 2, 1955) is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International relations at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University and a political scientist.
A member of the realist school of international relations ...
of the Kennedy School at Harvard University, one of the chief flaws in Neoclassical realism is that it "tends to incorporate domestic variables in an ad hoc manner, and its proponents have yet to identify when these variables have greater or lesser influence".
Neoclassical realism has been used to explain a number of puzzling foreign policy cases, such as the volatility in
South Korea-Japan relations,
Fascist Italy
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
's foreign policy,
Slobodan Milosevic's decision-making during the
1999 Kosovo crisis, the occurrence of the
Cod Wars between Iceland and the United Kingdom, and
Iran's foreign policy choices after the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Proponents of the theory argue that the theory is particularly valuable in explaining cases that fly in the face of other international relations theories, due to its incorporation of domestic variables.
Notable neoclassical realists
Persons mentioned as neoclassical realists, and the year of the release of the work associated with this classification include:
*
Jack Snyder (1991)
*
William Wohlforth (1993)
*
Thomas J. Christensen Thomas J. Christensen is an American political scientist. He is the James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
Biography
Christensen received his B.A. with honors ...
(1996)
*
Jennifer Sterling-Folker (1997)
*
Gideon Rose (1998)
*
Randall Schweller
Randall L. Schweller is Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University, where he has taught since 1994.
He earned his PhD from Columbia University in 1993 and was as an Olin Fellow at Harvard University in 1993-94. His primary tea ...
(1998)
*
Fareed Zakaria (1998)
*
Robert Jervis (1999)
* Anders Wivel (2005)
*
Colin Dueck (2006)
* Jeffrey Taliaferro (2006)
*
Norrin Ripsman (2009)
*
Steven Lobell
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
(2009)
*
Asle Toje (2010)
* Tom Dyson (2010)
* Nicholas Kitchen (2010)
*
Yan Xuetong
Yan Xuetong (born 7 December 1952) is a Chinese political scientist and serves as a distinguished professor and dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University. Yan is one of the major Chinese figures in the study of intern ...
(2011)
* Robert Wishart (2013)
* Michiel Foulon (2015)
* Elias Götz (2019)
* Henrik Larsen (2019)
* Gustav Meibauer (2020)
See also
*
War termination
References
Further reading
*Christensen, Thomas. ''Useful Adversaries: Grand Strategy, Domestic Mobilization, and Sino-American Conflict, 1947-1958'' (Princeton: University Press, 1996)
* Dyson, Tom. "''Neoclassical Realism and Defence Reform in Post-Cold War Europe''" (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
*Foulon, Michiel, 2015. "
Neoclassical Realism: Challengers and Bridging Identities". ''International Studies Review''.
*Götz, Elias, 2021. "
Neoclassical Realist Theories, Intervening Variables, and Paradigmatic Boundaries". ''Foreign Policy Analysis''.
Kitchen, Nicholas. ‘Systemic Pressures and Domestic Ideas: A Neoclassical Realist Model of Grand Strategy Formation’, Review of International Studies, 36 no. 1 (2010), 117-143.*Lobell, Steven E.;
Ripsman, Norrin M. and Taliaferro, Jeffrey W. (eds.) ''Neoclassical Realism, the State, and Foreign Policy''(Cambridge: University Press, 2009)
*Meibauer, Gustav, 2020."
Interests, Ideas and the Study of State Behaviour in Neoclassical Realism." ''Review of International Studies''.
*Meibauer, Gustav, Linde Desmaele, Tudor Onea, Nicholas Kitchen, Michiel Foulon, Alexander Reichwein, Jennifer Sterling-Folker, 2020. "
Forum: Rethinking Neoclassical Realism at Theory's End." ''International Studies Review''.
*
Rose, Gideon. "Neoclassical Realism and Theories of Foreign Policy," ''World Politics'', 51 (October 1998), pp. 144–172
Smith, Nicholas Ross. "Can Neoclassical Realism Become a Genuine Theory of International Relations?," ''The Journal of Politics'' 2018*
Schweller, Randall. "Unanswered Threats: Political Constraints on the Balance of Power (Princeton: University Press, 2006)
*Sterling-Folker, Jennifer, 1997. "
Realist Environment, Liberal Process, and Domestic-Level Variables". ''International Studies Quarterly''.
*
Toje, Asle and Kunz, Barbara (eds.) ''Neoclassical Realism in European Politics: Bringing Power Back In'' (Manchester: University Press, 2012)
*
William Wohlforth. ''The Elusive Balance: Power and Perceptions during the Cold War'' (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993)
*
Zakaria, Fareed. ''From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America's World Role'' (Princeton: University Press, 1998)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neoclassical Realism
International relations
Political realism