Theories of International Relations: from an American Science Towards a Pluralism of Thought

• Published in: Transition studies review Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 813 - 828
• Main Author: Dominese, Giorgio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 2010
• Subjects: Economics; Economics and Finance; Entrepreneurship; European Integration; Finance; International Economics; International Order; Regional/Spatial Science; Security and Strategic Studies; Social Policy; Obama and the war; America and the world; Modernization and Europe; F02; H11; K33; Russia reforms; P20; O14; Theory international relations; O38; Great power indicators; OECD new global indicators; E 17; B30
• ISSN: 1614-4007; 1614-4015
• DOI: 10.1007/s11300-009-0125-7

The change was not only promised during Obama’s electoral campaign but urgently invoked by all the major international actors in view of the financial and economic crises: the world foreign policy has suddenly entered a new age not being yet prepared to govern globalization and its wide interdependence conditionality. Even Russia has changed tune now and President Medvedev announced vigorously a new strategy, a new policy, and a new drive for Russia. Until a few years ago, the theories of International Relations were simply an American intellectual and governance exit of the growing role of the US in the world, a kind of field of competence for the greatest power in the global economic, political, strategic and innovative sectors. The British School was an island of the core American thinking and the rest of the world mostly absent. FSU has not expressed a relevant contribution to the various schools of thinking related to the IR theories and even the Marxist political scientists did not dedicate specifically to this main research area because convinced that first it was not a real “science” but a derivative outcome from Philosophy or Political Science; secondly, for the reason of the monopoly of the power in the hands of an autocratic regime where these issues were not left to the researchers and experts but only to the institutional and military leadership. Today Russia—after having caressed and found opportunistically convenient to resume the realism doctrines of the past US almost decennial Presidency, with modest attempts to assume the great changes in international affairs intervened— has the chance to take the last train for a competitive power role, “de facto” under the unavoidable strict rules of engagement of the global governance. In the 2020–2030 the world would be completely reshape by the present metamorphosis.