Realism as a critique of militarism and national primacy

The Working Paper is the English original of the new preface for the Polish translation of Realism in International Relations and International Political Economy: the continuing story of a death foretold'. In this preface, Guzzini develops the need for a wider understanding of theory in International Relations, that is reducible neither to practical knowledge dear to classical realists and practitioners, nor to empirical generalisation prevalent in US academia. A second part deals with two common misconceptions about the realist tradition. There is an odd confusion between realism as a foreign policy strategy and as a theory. Neither is realism always right, whenever things turn sour in world affairs, nor is liberalism vindicated, when diplomacy works. Any theory will have to explain both conflict and cooperation. Realism is not the 'shit-happens'-theory of International Relations. At the same time, and on the level of strategy, realism should not be confused with militarism or national primacy, either, since at least some realist thinkers have reflected on their counter-productive effects for national security.