Neorealism as a Research Enterprise: Toward Elaborated Structural Realism

Abstract

Neorealism, also known as structural realism, holds a central place among students of international politics. While admired for its elegance, the approach also has attracted considerable criticism, ranging from assertions that it no longer accurately describes international relations to charges of moral bankruptcy. Given the ongoing controversy about conventional wisdom on the subject of world politics, the purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the status of structural realism as a research enterprise. This objective is achieved in four stages. First, in order to reveal priorities for further concept formation, patterns in previ ous thinking about structure as an explanation of international politics will be identified. The second task is to describe the axiomatic basis of struc tural realism as a specific manifestation of systemic theory. Third, the performance of structural realism and related approaches in accounting for international conflict is evaluated. The fourth and final stage is an argument—in preliminary form—that favors a more elaborate version of structural realism.