Re-Assessing the "Power of Power Politics" Thesis: Is Realism Still Dominant?1

Abstract

Disagreements frequently arise over the dominant role played by realism in the study of international relations. Even though some scholars characterize the discipline by its rich theoretical diversity, others see realist concerns overshadowing all alternative theories. John Vasquez's The Power of Power Politics (1983) demonstrated how the realist paradigm had informed more than 90 percent of the data-based articles published from the end of World War II to 1970. In this Forum, we reevaluate the centrality of realism in international relations scholarship. Reviewing 515 data-based articles published from 1970 to 2000, we find that the proportion of articles informed by realism has been declining over the past three decades. From 1995 to 2000, liberalism surpassed realism as the leading guide to inquiry. This new theoretical pluralism calls into question the power of power politics thesis as a fitting description of contemporary research in international relations.

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