Millennium: Journal of International Studies 39(3) - р. 735–758
International relations as we know them emerged through the peace of Westphalia, and the
discipline of International Relations emerged in 1919 and developed through a First Great Debate
between idealists and realists. These are the established myths of 1648 and 1919. In this article
we demonstrate how historical and historiographical scholarship has demolished these myths, but
that the myths regardless are pervasive in the current textbooks that are used in teaching future
IR scholars. Disciplinary dialogue seems to have failed completely. Based on a detailed reading
of the myths and their perpetuation, we discuss the consequences of the discipline’s reliance
on mythical origins, why there has been so little incorporation of revisionist insight and what
possibilities there are for enhancing the dialogue.
