As it is my 4th and final year studying political science I’ve learned that my favorite aspect of this field of study has been learning about where theory meets practice. I’ve always been interested in theory and its consequent impact on the real world. I was introduced to theory in Poli 240 and its possible political implications in Poli 260. These classes gave me a base foundational understanding for how theory in foreign relations could be applied in real world situations. This led me to take security studies Poli 360 and conflict management Poli 370. This informed my view that theory is critical for real world action to take place, especially for consequential actions in the International sphere. Whether working on war or peace-making theory is how state’s and some non-state’s actors base their decisions, it is also foundational for studying warfare and peace-making. And as important as theory is, it’s interesting to consider the implications that we ourselves affect our theory, and that we do not neutrally observe the world.
It’s an important point that no matter how scientific our means of testing and formulating theories is it will always be biased by our implicit biases. This can be seen especially within realist theory, as it presupposes that all major events in the International sphere are driven by states and that conflict is virtually inevitable, one can see how this theory when applied universally could lead to hostility between neighboring countries. Additionally, if one thinks that workers or non-state actors don’t matter, such as realists, then one can ignore the major instances when corporations or non-governmental organizations affect the global political economic sphere, massively shaping international relations.
During the great recession there was massive turmoil in the international sphere and many major events resulted from the mismanagement of central and private banks. This recession even led the Euro crises with Greece and several other EU countries falling into massive economic collapse dependent on an EU backed bailout. A realist wouldn’t look at how this recession could impact the individuals and workers across the US and EU fueling resentment against the establishment. This event caused by non-state actors has implications for the international sphere, the study of IR, and the future of the global system. The point being that while theory is enticing and very useful for real world action, we should never be so caught up in it that we start to forget how much our assumptions influence theory. I’m sure this class will be interesting given how our Professor is asking us to question these theories and their implications.