Rereading the Public: Isolationism and Internationalism Revisited

This is the first installment in what we hope will be a recurring series of Forums in ISP. In each segment we intend to provide an outlet for peer-reviewed dialogue and debate on important topics in the field and to allow our readers to discuss material previously printed in the pages of ISP. Below are two comments on "Challenging U.S. Policymakers' Image of an Isolationist Public" by Steven Kull and Clay Ramsay published in ISP 1:1. Both comments raise a number of important issues pertaining to the relationship of public opinion and foreign policy, and also address more general questions of domestic impact on foreign policy outputs and several significant methodological questions about approaches to polling. The Forum begins first with comments by Richard Clark and Kenneth Dautrich, is followed by comments from Shoon Murray, and concludes with a response from Kull and Ramsay.     

国际关系理论的时空问题

西方学者在研究国际关系理论时往往有两种倾向:一是把国际关系理论作为某种静态的东西来研究,二是认为一种理论一旦被确立,就有某种普世性.然而,国际关系是不断变化和发展的,国际关系理论也同样是不断变化发展的,且形形色色的国际关系理论都有其针对性,都是应不同国家在不同时期的不同需要而产生的.中国在建立自己的国际关系理论体系时,必须充分考虑以上两点,即时空问题.     

马克思主义国际关系理论的奠基之作——《德意志意识形态》理论贡献的新视角

马克思、恩格斯早期合著的《德意志意识形态》,从哲学、“世界历史”理论和国际关系原理本身三个层次上为马克思主义国际关系理论奠定了基础。     

西方国际关系理论史探析

国际关系理论是一门既年轻又古老的学科,年轻主要体现为国际关系学科地位正式确立的时间不长,古老则表现为其基本思想理念却早已有之.通过回顾和梳理,我们可以发现西方国际关系理论拥有较长的历史与学术传统,其漫长的发展演变进程可分为三个大的阶段:萌芽阶段、孕育阶段、发展成熟阶段.     

The Time and Space of IR Theory

Contrary to the common belief that IR theory is static and unique, the author thinks that IR theory is organic and can grow, a phenomenon the author calls the ＂time dimension.＂ As IR theories are adopted according to the unique conditions of each country, IR theory ought to be considered a cluster of theories rather than a single theory： this the author calls the ＂space dimension.＂ Based on these thoughts, the author gives his view on what theory works best for China.     

A ＂Unified Theory＂ for IR Theories

This article puts forward a ＂unified field theory＂ for international relations （IR）. It first divides current western IR theories into hard and soft categories, then points out conceptual fallacies of the three major debates in the history of Western IR theories by using this categorization as an analytical guide. It further asserts that such a categorization should help clarify the present theoretical chaos by pursuing a unified IR theoretical system.     

一个新的国际关系归因理论 ——不确定性的维度及其认知挑战

四个内部维度（即能力、意图、利益和决心）以及一个外部维度（即外部环境）对于我们理解他人的行为是必不可少的。不确定性在其中的任一维度内均发挥着作用。作者构建了一种新的行为归因理论,认为不确定性的五个维度不仅能各自独立地给人们的认知造成不同困难,而且它们之间的互动也对人们的认知构成了更加难以应对的挑战。更重要的是,这种认知挑战在冲突情境与合作情境中的表现是有所区别的。缺乏对这些不同的、并且能够互相影响的挑战的认识已然对国际关系的研究造成了一定的困扰。把握好这五个维度,了解人们在理解它们时易于出现的各种偏差,对于理解国家在合作或冲突情境中的行为来说是至关重要的。文章的理论框架还指向一些特定的假说,而这些假说可以通过经验与实验方法加以验证。     

创建中国学派的呼吁--国际关系理论研讨会综述

2004年12月10日到11日上海交通大学等单位主持召开国际关系理论研讨会,来自30多所高校与科研机构的70名专家学者出席了会议。中国现代国际关系研究院院长、《现代国际关系》总编陆忠伟研究员专程到会,作了国际形势报告。会议以“建构中国理论,创建中国学派”为主题,回顾了建国以     

"中国学派"国际关系理论的本体论认知

"'中国学派'国际关系理论框架到底是什么"已成为学界关注的一个重要问题.本文立足中国哲学的文化根基,同时尊重马克思主义的思想传统,将两者融合成新的本体论认识,以"陆王"心学的认识论作为过渡进一步论述儒家思想在国际关系方面的方法论原则,提出"中国学派"国际关系理论的基本认知,尝试在哲学意义上回答"‘中国学派'国际关系理论框架到底是什么"这一问题.     

世界主义和社群主义——国际关系规范理论两种思想传统及其争鸣

国际关系规范理论是一种以价值判断为基础、旨在探寻应然世界的理论,世界主义与社群主义构成了它的两种主要思想传统。世界主义发轫于智者学派,成形于近代的康德,到贝兹和罗尔斯那里形成比较系统的理论;社群主义可上溯至柏拉图,成形于近代的黑格尔,当代的沃尔泽与弗罗斯特则是两位典型的国际关系社群主义学者。这两种思想的分歧在于四个方面:人的概念、国家的道德地位、普世主义与特殊主义之争以及未来向度。世界主义与社群主义构成了国际关系规范理论的价值两端,各有其内在的理论缺陷。只有综合这两种视角、融合个体价值与社群价值,提倡道德共存与对话,才能摆脱理论困境,推动现实世界的进步。     

The Highs and Lows of Teaching IR Theory: Using Popular Films for Theoretical Critique

This article introduces an approach to IR that uses popular films to teach students how to critically analyze IR theory. By pairing IR traditions (like Realism) and the slogans that go with them (like "international anarchy is the permissive cause of war") with popular films (like Lord of the Flies ), this approach poses questions not about the truth or falsity of IR theories but about how IR theories appear to be true. This technique works because it draws upon visual analytical skills that students already possess and transfers them to analyses of IR theory and international politics. Overall, it challenges the positioning of IR theory as beyond culture and politics rather than as part and parcel of it, transforms what we think of as doing critical IR theory, and repositions students from passive recipients of IR truths into critically active and engaged analysts of IR theory's commonsense views of the world.     

A New Regional Cold War in the Middle East and North Africa: Regional Security Complex Theory Revisited

Since the 2003 Iraq war, the Middle East and North Africa has entered into a New Regional Cold War, characterised by two competing logics: on the one hand, the politicisation of sectarianism opposing a Saudi-led Sunni bloc against an Iran-led Shia bloc and, on the other, an intra-Sunni cleavage around the mobilisation of political Islam, embodied by the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters vs its opponents. Blending Buzan and Weaver’s regional security complex theory with Donnelly’s notion of ‘heterarchy’ and applying it to the cold wars the region has experienced, the similarities and differences between the Arab Cold War of the 1950s/60s and the New Regional Cold War reveal the increasing number of heterarchic features within the regional security complex: multiple and heterogeneous power centres, different power rankings, a more visible and relevant role of non-state and transnational actors, and the fragmentation of regional norms.     

United Nations Security Council Reform Revisited: A Proposal

The United Nations [UN] came into being following the Second World War. Resembling earlier efforts of co-operation by the most powerful states of the international system, it was an attempt to effect global governance through the maintenance of international peace and security amongst states. However, led by its main executive organ, the Security Council, the UN has been unable to prevent and effectively deal with armed conflicts and mass atrocities in a number of situations. Over the years, the inability of the UN Security Council to take collective action has resulted in its ineffectiveness in dealing with war and humanitarian crises. This situation has led to calls for Security Council reform and has generated several initiatives to that end. This analysis discusses major shortcomings of the Security Council, analyses prominent reform initiatives, and introduces a proposal, the “Two-Layered Regional Model,” for Security Council reform.     

Toward a Global Theory of Mind: The Potential Benefits of Presenting a Range of IR Theories through Active Learning

Active learning is particularly well-suited to teaching across the range of perspectives inherent in the practice and study of international politics for two key reasons: (1) because of its capacity to highlight how subjective, intersubjective, and contested understandings play an important role in determining outcomes in the ivory tower as well as in the real world and (2) because of the compatibility between underlying theories of knowledge that inform active learning and the newer generation of IR theories including subaltern realism, social constructivism, constitutive theory, and postmodernism. This article explores the potential benefits of presenting these and other norm-oriented theories through active learning. It also discusses ways to overcome barriers to the integration of active learning techniques.     

Kantian Dynamics Revisited: Time-Varying Analyses of Dyadic IGO-Conflict Relationships

ABSTRACT

The literature on international organizations (IGOs) and interstate conflict in world politics produces a series of contradictory theoretical arguments and empirical findings about how IGOs help to prevent conflict and promote peace between member states. Empirical studies find a range of inconsistent results, ranging from pacifying effects of shared IGO memberships on dyadic militarized disputes to conflict-inducing effects of shared IGO memberships to null relationships. Theoretically, we consider how IGOs promote the rule of peace preservation through the mechanisms of coercion, self-interest, and legitimacy, and we describe how these mechanisms help explain the time-varying relationships between shared IGOs memberships and militarized conflict since WWII. Analyses of time-varying parameter models of dyad-year data from 1948 to 2000 suggest that shared IGO memberships reduce the likelihood of militarized conflict in some historical periods (Cold War) but increase the chances for dyadic conflict in other periods (post-Cold War). The design of IGOs is relevant as well, with security-based, highly institutionalized IGOs best suited to prevent militarized conflict between member states. The results suggest that evolutionary dynamics in the Kantian peace vary across legs of the Kantian tripod and that we cannot understand the Kantian peace without considering dynamic relationships over time.