1. Exceptionalist Narratives and Great Power Status: The Social Sources of Realpolitik.
- Author
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Schlickenmaier, William
- Subjects
- *
GREAT powers (International relations) , *REALPOLITIK , *EXCEPTIONALISM (Political science) , *BALANCE of power , *INTERNATIONAL relations - Abstract
Great power status is an essentially contested concept, despite the commentaries of some IR theorists. In this paper I examine materialist definitions of great power status and find them lacking. Also, an intersubjective understanding approach to great power status fails at least insofar as no one can agree who a great power is, in at least some of the cases out there. After examining the literature I discuss how narratives influence foreign policy decision making and how a state's identity leads it to adopt certain policies - in this case, the pursuit of great power status. I extend this from a relational-identity perspective to a relational-power perspective, and seek to bring ideational studies and realism closer together. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009