Although thinkers such as Thucydides, Rousseau and Hobbes are considered central to the realist tradition, Michael Williams re-evaluates their positions. Arguing that such philosophers were not concerned with methodological issues of rationality and anarchy, as commonly interpreted, Williams asserts that they wanted to establish political practices for leaders which would ensure order. His original interpretation of major thinkers will interest scholars of international relations and the history of ideas.
Author(s): Michael C. Williams
Series: Cambridge studies in international relations 100
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 255
City: Cambridge; New York
Tags: Международные отношения;Международные отношения;Теория международных отношений;
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Introduction......Page 13
From past to present......Page 21
Questions and interpretations......Page 24
1 Sceptical states: Hobbes......Page 31
Scepticism and the state of nature......Page 33
The state of nature reconsidered......Page 40
'Hobbesian' international political theory reconsidered......Page 51
Conclusion......Page 58
2 Rousseau, Realism, and realpolitik......Page 64
Rousseau in International Relations theory......Page 65
Recasting Rousseau: history, reason, and the state......Page 69
Rousseau in International Relations reconsidered......Page 77
History, reason, and the Abbé's Project......Page 78
History, reason, progress......Page 84
Rousseau and the politics of community......Page 88
3 Hans Morgenthau and the historical construction of Realism......Page 94
Liberalism and 'the political': the dialogue with Schmitt......Page 96
Morgenthau and the liberal tradition......Page 105
The 'politics' of Realism......Page 116
Power, interest, and politics......Page 119
The Weberian legacy......Page 123
A strategy of limits......Page 130
4 The tyranny of false polarities......Page 140
Liberalism versus Realism......Page 141
Realism, liberalism, and rationalism......Page 143
Method, responsibility, and the politics of forgetting in rationalism and neorealism......Page 149
Rationalism versus constructivism......Page 157
Conventional constructivism and the (Critical) question of consequences......Page 160
The modern and the postmodern......Page 171
5 The ethic of responsibility......Page 181
The ethic of responsibility......Page 182
Consequences and the construction of responsibility......Page 184
The national interest......Page 192
The national interest......Page 197
The dilemmas of Realism......Page 205
The neoconservative movement......Page 209
After anarchy......Page 216
Bibliography......Page 223
Index......Page 238
