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REALISM REDUX

Contexts, concepts, contests

Ken Booth

Three interconnected themes run through this book, though the individual contrib-
utors have different takes on them: first, an appreciation of Kenneth N. Waltz as
one of the few truly indispensable theorists in the study of international politics;
second, an understanding that the theory with which he is associated, structural
realism, offers a powerful picture of the international system with which, or against
which, any serious student of the subject must engage; and finally a belief that we
need to know a good deal more than realism in its various configurations in order
to make sense of world politics.

The Waltzian legacy

The term ‘realism redux’ in the title of this chapter refers to the revival of interest
in realist theory following a period in which, apparently, no one loved realists and
nobody loved realism.^1 By the start of this century, realism was threatened with
becoming a real wasm.^2 Today, realism has not achieved anything like its former
disciplinary ascendancy, but its respectability has almost been restored, with
particular interest having been shown in the work of some of its great thinkers. This
book contributes to such rethinking, in relation to specific aspects of structural realist
theory, and realism’s general standing in the discipline.
Realism redux, so far, has largely taken place within the realist family, fine-tuning
their differences. For the most part, however, the present book is not the work of
such family members. With several notable exceptions, Realism and World Politics
has been written by scholars better known as critics of some or all aspects of realism,
but who believe that engaging with realism is essential if one is to speak with any
persuasiveness about politics across borders. Given the book’s generally critical
orientation, readers might ask why we are pursuing a project that aims not to bury
the work of Kenneth Waltz, realism’s most prominent contemporary theorist, but