Major Splits and Revisions within the Realist and Social Constructivist Schools in International Relations and the Potential for Their Convergence
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Dec 10, 2025
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Ahmed Ali Salem
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3487-8247
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3487-8247
Abstract
This study seeks to examine the major theoretical splits, divergences, and revisions within the schools of International Relations during its inaugural century. Based on a convergence-of-theories perspective, it calls upon the theoretical schools to mutually enrich one another to address their theoretical challenges, while preserving their distinct philosophical assumptions. In doing so, the study rejects the arguments of both theoretical purity, which denies the possibility of rapprochement between schools, and theoretical plurality, which rejects the integration of schools. in particular, the study highlights the possibility of bridging between the Realism and Social Constructivism paradigms, which represent the discipline’s mainstream and critical schools, respectively, on the one hand, and between the different trends within each, on the other hand. The split of Neorealism from Classical Realism to achieve a higher degree of objectivity according to positivism, and its subsequent inability to achieve that goal, has allowed for a reconsideration of the relationship between theoretical schools. Thus, the balance-of-threat theory emerged to correct the shortcomings of the Neorealist balance-of-power theory and presented theses that were similar to those presented later by the conservative sub-school of Social Constructivism. With the increasing divergence between the critical and conservative sub-schools of Social Constructivism, and the conservative sub-school’s commitment to positivism, it was clear that the conservative Social Constructivist sub-school could benefit from Realism’s methodological rigor, and that Realism could benefit from the conservative Social Constructivist theses in reconstructing international relations concepts. Indeed, positivism is one of three approaches, besides cognitive psychology and the sociology of knowledge, that the study proposes to enhance the convergence between the international relations paradigms.
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Keywords
International Relations TheoriesRealismSocial ConstructivismConvergence of Theories
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–––. The Sciences of the Artificial. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996 [1969].
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–––. Theory of International Politics. New York: Random House, 1979.
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***************************************************************************************
الرويح، مشاري حمد. "الفاعل المكلف في السياسة الدولية: استنقاذ الفاعلية الإنسانية من الانحدار لما بعد الإنسانوية". مجلة تجسير لدراسات العلوم الإنسانية والاجتماعية البينية، مج6، ع2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.29117/tis.2024.0186
سالم، أحمد علي. "إسهامات غير غربية لتخليص حقل العلاقات الدولية من الهيمنة المعرفية الغربية: إصلاح أم ثورة؟". مجلة تجسير لدراسات العلوم الإنسانية والاجتماعية البينية، مج4، ع1 (2022): 10–32.https://doi.org/10.29117/tis.2022.0082
–––. "تطور علم السياسة في الولايات المتحدة: من بناء التقاليد المهنية إلى محاولات إعادة تماسك الجماعة العلمية". مجلة النهضة، جامعة القاهرة، مج11، ع1 (2010).
–––. "الكم والكيف في مناهج البحث في العلوم الاجتماعية عامة والسياسية خاصة: قراءة في الجدل بين دارسي المتغيرات والحالات وما غاب عنه من مشكلات بناء المفاهيم". المجلة العربية للعلوم السياسية، ع24 (2009).
الليثي، مدحت ماهر. حوار المعارف والثقافات وبناء العلوم الاجتماعية: من الخبرة الحضارية إلى تجاوز الأزمة المعاصرة. الدوحة: البحث الثاني الفائز بجائزة قطر العالمية لحوار الحضارات، الدورة الرابعة، 2024.
Al Laithi, Midhat Māhir. Hiwār al-Ma‘ārif wa al-Thaqāfāt wa binā’ al-‘Ulūm al-Ijtimā’īyah: min al-Khibrah al-Hadhārīyah Ila Tajawuz al-Azmah al-Mu‘āsirah (in Arabic). Doha: The Second Winning Research in Qatar International Award for Dialogue among Civilizations, 4th Edition, 2024.
Bain, William. “Deconfusing Morgenthau: Moral Inquiry and Classical Realism Reconsidered,” Review of International Studies, Vol. 26 (2000).
Barkin, J. Samuel. Realist Constructivism: Rethinking International Relations Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Barnett, Michael. “Identity and Alliance in the Middle East,” ed. Peter Katzenstein, The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.
Barnett, Michael and Raymond Duvall. “Power in International Politics,” International Organization, Vol. 59, No. 1 (2005).
Carr, Edward. The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations. New York: Harper Torchbook, 1964.
Ceaser, James. Liberal Democracy and Political Science. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
Diesing, Paul. How Does Social Science Work? Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991
Dougherty, James and Robert Pfaltzgraff. Contending Theories of International Relations: A Comprehensive Survey. New York: Longman, 1996.
Dunne, Tim, Lene Hansen and Colin Wight. “The end of International Relations theory?” European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 19, No. 3 (2013).
Finnemore, Martha. National Interests in International Society. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996.
Grieco, Joseph. “Understanding the Problem of International Cooperation: the limits of neoliberal institutionalism and the future of realist theory,” eds. David Baldwin, Neorealism and Neoliberalism: the contemporary debate. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
Hempel, Carl. “Studies in the Logic of Explanation,” eds. E.D. Klemke, R. Hollinger, and D.W. Rudge, Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998.
Heywood, Andrew. Global Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Hopf, Ted. “The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory,” International Security, Vol. 23, No. 1 (1998).
Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace, 2017.
Huth, Paul. Standing Your Ground: Territorial Disputes and International Conflict. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1996.
Jervis, Robert. Perception and Misperception in International Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976.
Keohane, Robert. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Kunda, Ziva. Social Cognition: Making Sense of People. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1999.
Latour, Bruno. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988.
Marriam, Charles. New Aspects of Politics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1970.
Mill, John Stuart. The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill. New York: Modern Library, 2002.
Morgenthau, Hans J. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Alfred Knopf, 3rd ed., 1960.
Murphy, Michael PA. “Rediscovering the ‘Meaning of Science’? Hans Morgenthau and the ethics debate in quantum IR,” International Relations (2024).
Popper, Karl. “Science: Conjectures and Refutations,” eds. E.D. Klemke, R. Hollinger, and D.W. Rudge, Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998.
Ross, Dorthy. “The Development of the Social Sciences”, eds. James Farr and Raymond Seidelman, Discipline and History: Political Science in the United States. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1993) pp. 81-106.
Ruggie, John. “What Makes the World Hang Together? Neo-utilitarianism and the Social Constructivist Challenge,” International Organization, Vol. 52, No. 4 (1998).
Salem, Ahmed Ali. “A Critique of Failing International Relations Theories in African Tests, with emphasis on North African Responses,” eds. Paul-Henri Bischoff, Kwesi Aning, and Amitav Acharya, Africa in Global International Relations: Emerging Approaches to Theory and Practice. London: Routledge, 2016.
–––. “al-Kam wa al-Kayf fi Manāhij al-Bahth fi al-‘Ulūm al-Ijtimā‘īyah ‘āmmah wa al-Siyāsīyah khāssah: Qirā’ah fi al-Jadal bayna Dārisī al-Mutaghaīrāt wa al-Halāt wa ma ghāb ‘anhum min Mushkilāt binā’ al-Mafāhīm” (in Arabic). al-Majallah al-‘Arabīyah li-al-‘Ulūm al-Siyāsīyah, No. 24 (2009).
–––. International Relations Theories and Organizations: Realism, Constructivism and Collective Security in the League of Arab States. Saarbruecken, Germany: Verlag Dr. Muller, 2008.
–––. “Non-Western Contributions to Rid the International Relations Discipline from Western Epistemological Hegemony: Reform or Revolution?” (in Arabic). Tajseer Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2022), pp. 10-32. https://doi.org/10.29117/tis.2022.0082
–––. “Tatawwur ‘Ilm al-Siyāsah fi al-Wilāyāt al-Muttaḥidah: min Binā’ al-Taqālīd al-Mihanīyah Ila Muhāwalāt I‘ādat Tamāsuk al-Jamā‘ah al-‘Ilmīya” (in Arabic). Majallat al-Nahḍah, Jāmiʻat al-Qāhirah, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2010).
–––. What Is Constructivist About Realism? Constructivist Critiquing of the Realist Paradigm in International Relations. Saarbruecken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012.
Simon, Herbert. Models of Man. New York: Wiley, 1957.
–––. The Sciences of the Artificial. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996 [1969].
Somit, Albert and Joseph Tanenhause. The Development of Political Science: From Burgess to Behavioralism. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1967.
Steve, Smith. “Foreign Policy Is What States Make of It: Social Construction and International Relations Theory,” eds. Vendulka kubalkova, Foreign Policy in a Constructed World. London: M.E.Sharpe, 2001.
Thagard, Paul. How Scientists Explain Disease. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Thakur, Vineet. “Africa and the Theoretical Peace in IR,” International Political Sociology, vol. 9 (2015).
Wæver, Ole. “Figures of international thought: introducing persons instead of Paradigms,” eds. Iver B. Neumann and Ole Wæver, The Future of International Relations: Masters in the Making?. London: Routledge, 2005.
Walt, Stephen. The Origins of Alliances. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1990.
Waltz, Kenneth. “Structural Realism after the Cold War,” International Security, Vol. 25, No. 1 (2000).
–––. Theory of International Politics. New York: Random House, 1979.
Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics,” International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 2 (1992).
Wendt, Alexander. Social Theory of International Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Wilson, Edward O. Consilience. New York: Vintage, 1999.
***************************************************************************************
الرويح، مشاري حمد. "الفاعل المكلف في السياسة الدولية: استنقاذ الفاعلية الإنسانية من الانحدار لما بعد الإنسانوية". مجلة تجسير لدراسات العلوم الإنسانية والاجتماعية البينية، مج6، ع2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.29117/tis.2024.0186
سالم، أحمد علي. "إسهامات غير غربية لتخليص حقل العلاقات الدولية من الهيمنة المعرفية الغربية: إصلاح أم ثورة؟". مجلة تجسير لدراسات العلوم الإنسانية والاجتماعية البينية، مج4، ع1 (2022): 10–32.https://doi.org/10.29117/tis.2022.0082
–––. "تطور علم السياسة في الولايات المتحدة: من بناء التقاليد المهنية إلى محاولات إعادة تماسك الجماعة العلمية". مجلة النهضة، جامعة القاهرة، مج11، ع1 (2010).
–––. "الكم والكيف في مناهج البحث في العلوم الاجتماعية عامة والسياسية خاصة: قراءة في الجدل بين دارسي المتغيرات والحالات وما غاب عنه من مشكلات بناء المفاهيم". المجلة العربية للعلوم السياسية، ع24 (2009).
الليثي، مدحت ماهر. حوار المعارف والثقافات وبناء العلوم الاجتماعية: من الخبرة الحضارية إلى تجاوز الأزمة المعاصرة. الدوحة: البحث الثاني الفائز بجائزة قطر العالمية لحوار الحضارات، الدورة الرابعة، 2024.
How to Cite
Salem, Ahmed Ali. 2025. “Major Splits and Revisions Within the Realist and Social Constructivist Schools in International Relations and the Potential for Their Convergence”. Tajseer Journal 7 (2). https://doi.org/10.29117/tis.2025.0229.
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Articles in Arabic