Introduction

Abstract

International Relations (IR) theory has benefited greatly from a growing interaction with political theory and philosophy over the last 20 years.¹ Via postmodernism and the work of Foucault, Derrida, Rorty, and Lyotard continental theory has become an accepted part of theoretical discourse.² The Frankfurt School Critical Theory, exemplified by the work of Habermas, has also carved out a significant niche.³ In International Political Economy (IPE), the work of Antonio Gramsci has inspired perhaps the most dynamic analysis of economic globalization, and certainly one with a powerful critical voice.⁴ Traditional stalwarts of political theory courses, such as Kant, Mill, and Bentham, have regained prominence via the democratic peace literature and issues such as cosmopolitan democracy and global citizenship.⁵ The revival of normative theory also owes a great deal to political theory and philosophy with both cosmopolitan and communitarian camps often identifying themselves with Kant and Hegel, respectively.⁶ Even realism, often seen as lacking in philosophical sophistication, has looked to its theoretical roots. This is most obvious in the use of neoclassical economic analogies and rational choice theory in neorealism, but has also involved a consideration of thinkers such as Carl Schmitt—adding the, admittedly problematic, weapon of the twentieth century’s most trenchant critic of liberalism to the armory of policy-oriented, problem-solving pragmatism.⁷