Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

In Sum: Contending Perspectives on the Impact of Individuals 205

ContendIng PerSPeCtIveS

on the IndIvIdual

r ealISm/

neorealISm

lIberalISm/

neolIberal

InStItutIonalISm

radICalISm/

de Pen denCy

theory

ConStruCtIvISm

ForeIgn

PolICy

elIteS

Constrained

by anarchic

international

system and

national

interests

Significant

impact on

international

relations through

choices made

and personality

factors

Constrained by

international

capitalist

system

Shape popular

understanding

and

incorporation

of events and

processes

P r Ivate

IndIvIdualS

Actions of

private

individuals

have effect

only in

aggregate,

as reflected

in national

interest

Secondary role,

but may be

involved in

track-two

diplomacy and

may fund

important

initiatives

Individual

capitalists may

be influential

Actions of

individuals less

important than

beliefs

m aSS

PublICS

Actions may

be reflected

in national

interest

May affect

inter national

relations through

mass actions that

pressure state

decision makers

Agents of

potential

revolutionary

change

Agents of

potential

change through

discourse

t heory In brIeF

and po liti cal elites in the 2009 Green movement lost the election, and its momentum.
And the future for democracy is unclear in Egypt and other Arab states. While new
regimes have been voted into power, they face high expectations, steep challenges, and
lingering societal opposition.

In sum: contending Perspectives on the Impact of Individuals

For liberals, the actions of individuals matter. Individual elites can make a difference:
they have choices in the kinds of foreign policy they pursue and therefore can affect the
course of events. Thus, we need to pay attention to personality characteristics and