International Relations 23 September Bush administration said no to dem peace as guiding theory o Proposed realist theory to balance against nondemocracies o really logic of dem peace theory o ie Iraq fight to promote freedom security make Iraq democracy peace Clinton foreign policy dem peace theory o Engage China o Absolute gains o Trade as lever o does realist stuff too Faux Realism o Axis of evil Iran Iraq N Korea Balance against evil Not realist measure Critical Theory o Set of theories does not acknowledge generalizations Too much left out o Nothing explains everything take things case by case o Written logical o Refute challenge theories o Challenge parsimony positivism clear causal relationships o Postmodernists feminists say IR theory is wrong bc it doesn t consider gender roles early constructivists everything is a social construct no theory can explain in general sense bc everyone learns differently anarchy is what states want it to be 26 September Generalize cause effect Alexander Wendt Realism and liberalism material constructs No one is born knowing anything Cooperation collective security sovereignty etc exist bc states have ideas about them constructive norms World is made of things someone came up with and taught us World is made of IDEAS o Ideas about constructs dictate behaviour o Ideas independent variable All states possess qualities to see world differently Socialized via similar processes o Therefore similar action Ideas cause states to act differently about same structures o Cannot be explained materially Society conditions us to know certain things o o o Example what a chair is what a tank is It is what you know it is tank in front of apartment threatening change identity vcu students army officer tank therefore less threatening Identity matters more than material objects Difference in world view ontological difference Idea material action