Neoclassical realism and the crisis of the realist paradigm in contemporary international relations

Abstract

The article refers to the crisis of realism after the end of the cold war. It
considers neoclassical realism as a promising theoretical attitude to revive
the realist paradigm in the post cold-war bipolar international reality. The
paper appreciates neoclassical realism’s return to a multifaceted concept

of power present in Hans Morgenthau’s theoretical considerations and its
acceptance of the importance of domestic variables developing the power
of the state. Nevertheless, neoclassical realism is not a simple “return to
Morgenthau”. It still emphasises the impact of systemic determinants and
aspires more to a synthesis of classical and structural streams of realism. The
article indicates that the idea of the synthesis contributes to some ambiguities
in neoclassical realism’s assumptions, especially in the methodological
context. Besides, neoclassical stream suffers some internal inconsistencies
as a theoretical approach. Thus, neoclassical realism’s ability to revive realism
in the post-cold war international relations is still disputable and the
approach needs some more efforts to clarify and harmonize its theoretical
assumptions.