Guzzini takes a fresh look at the development of realism in International
Relations both in terms of external movement in international affairs and the
paradigmatic alterations which have taken place within the intellectual
discourse itself.This book provides an introductory survey of the evolution of Realism in
international theory. It is the first book to examine the history of Realism in
terms of its own evolution as a paradigm, rather than providing a survey of
some of the key Realist thinkers, and the first book to include a detailed
consideration of the IPE dimension of Realism. Guzzini argues that any account
of the historical evolution of theory must be concerned with both internal
history - the intra-theoretical developments, refinements and rebuttals of
existing approaches that have shaped IR and IPE, and with external history -
including both the intellectual environment within which theories are
constructed and the external history of the subject matter including real
developments in international affairs. It is the exchange between these two
histories that forms the subject of this book. Guzzini contends that as the
leading school of thought of the discipline, Realism is the reference point of
the internal history of IR and IPE. A study of the development of the realist
paradigm is thus the key to an understanding of international history.
