Neorealism and Its Unfair Critics

Neorealist arguments get misrepresented much more frequently than any other theories’ arguments, and neorealism regularly gets attacked on unfair grounds. In any good scientific environment critique is seen as something positive. But misrepresenting arguments is different: It is morally reprehensible and obstructive to scientific progress. I’d like to point out two examples.

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War, States, and Technology

Technology is an important aspect on the battle field and technological advancements are rapid and fundamental. I’d like to highlight in this post that advancements in military technology do not just change the way we fight, but also the way our world is organized.

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Big Questions, Significant Results, and EU Integration

The usual understanding is that one can either study the abstract or the specific, but not both at the same time. I argue that the topic of differentiated integration in the European Union offers an opportunity to do just that.

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Terrorism, Interstate War, and Perceptions of Threat

Ever since 9/11, terrorism receives much attention in both the scholarly literature and the public discourse. I argue that terrorism will be of much less interest in due time. The big threats in international politics still stem from interstate war and conflict, and recently the international security environment has been heating up considerably.

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War, States, and Security Studies

Wars, all their bad aspects aside, also have surprisingly positive consequences. Many of the good aspects of today’s states, such as social security systems or representative democracy, might never have been established without them. The state system as it is today might never have formed. These relations are more and more neglected.

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The Democratic Peace Theory and Its Critics

The democratic peace theory (DPT) has become common knowledge today. I’d like to point out the very basics of the DPT and then focus, since I suspect that its strong sides are well known already, on its biggest problems and challenges.

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International Politics Works… Usually

International politics works well. This statement may seem banale, but it is not. Scholars of international relations repeatedly emphasize negative developments, which is especially true for those following the realist school. In the end, we need to be aware that international politics offers both encouraging developments towards peace and stability and a depressingly enduring tendency […]

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Theories of International Relations and Investment Banking

I have written about the utility of IR theories before, but neglected one important point, namely that IR theories can help us to make wise investment decisions.

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Why the United Nations Climate Change Conference failed

Why did the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen fail? An answer to this question has to take account of the following two aspects: The connection between great power politics and climate politics and the domestic instability of many rising countries. Taken together, these two points never allowed the summit to be a substantial […]

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International Law, Great Powers, and Switzerland’s Foreign Policy

There are two discussions ongoing in Switzerland that deserve our attention. The first one is about the importance of public international law, the second one relates to the cooperation with great powers. I argue that the core of both these discussions is misguided.

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The Strong Do What They Can, the Weak Arrange

Common knowledge in IR theories tells us that the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. Surprisingly, structural realism teaches us that this is not entirely true. The weak arrange. They develop strategies that allow them to conduct an independent and active role in international politics. Anything else would contradict […]

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