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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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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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 Utility of IR Theories

One question that is frequently posed to any student of international relations is what theories of IR are good for. For many, the study of international politics is of little value. But this line of thought is wrong. IR theories help us not just to understand previously obscuring things, but can help us to make […]

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Some Insights in the IR Scholarship

I have done some research on publishing, so I thought to give it some more minutes and make a small ranking of IR scholars. Give it your own interpretation.

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