Four people have recommended that I drop this class. When I asked them why, they simply responded with “because it’s a theory class”. Several of my peers seem to avoid theory classes as they have the perception that they are either too difficult or too dull. While I agree that it may not sound as exciting as “Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control” or “The Politics of Terrorism”, I think that learning about theories that have shaped and continue to influence the way we perceive certain issues is fascinating in its own right. I took a theory course this summer which was labelled “Canadian Political Ideas”. In this course, we delved into and compared the existing theories on topics such as identity, multiculturalism, etc. These are topics that we Canadians talk about quite regularly, without understanding where or how our views have been developed. This course helped me understand the various interpretations of Canadian identity, how they emerged, and allowed me to choose which theory worked best for me. This is what I hope to take away from International Relations Theory.

In the first few classes, Dr. Crawford talked about the pluralism that now exists in the field of international relations, and how this is a drastic change from the claim to superiority that realism held several decades ago. While I did find it intimidating at first, I now think that it makes IR more interesting than ever. The truth is that there are numerous issues that we can focus on, and what may be more important to one person may not matter as much to another. Initially, I was inclined to think that I will likely end up adopting a mix of two or more of the different IR theories, as I think that structural realism, liberalism, and feminism all make some good points. However, Smith discusses that this is impossible, as “the various theories are not like parts of a jigsaw that can be neatly combined together with each explaining one part of international relations. Rather I think that the theories in this book are like different coloured lenses: if you put one of them in front of your eyes, you will see things differently” (p. 11). I am curious to see where I’ll stand at the end of the course.

We’re only two weeks into the course, and while I am still intimidated by the number of theories that we will be learning about, I think I made the right decision in keeping the course. (…for now?)