International Relations23 September- Bush administration said no to dem. peace as guiding theoryo Proposed realist theory to balance against nondemocracieso ** really logic of dem peace theoryo ie: Iraq – fight to promote freedom/security make Iraq democracy  peace- Clinton foreign policy  dem peace theoryo Engage Chinao Absolute gainso Trade as levero ** does realist stuff too- Faux Realismo Axis of evil  Iran, Iraq, N Korea Balance against evil? Not realist measure!- Critical Theoryo Set of theories, does not acknowledge generalizations Too much left outo Nothing explains everything, take things case-by-caseo Written, logicalo Refute/challenge theorieso Challenge parsimony, positivism & clear causal relationshipso 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 behaviouro Ideas = independent variable- All states possess qualities to see world differently- Socialized via similar processeso Therefore, similar action- Ideas cause states to act differently about same structureso Cannot be explained materially- Society conditions us to know certain thingso Example: what a chair is, what a tank iso It is what you know it iso **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 