Nuancing Realism: Martin Wight, Power Politics, and International Society

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the international theory of Martin Wight. The depictions of Wight as a Grotian (Bull and Dunne) or as a Christian moralist (Epp) are contrasted with an alternative reading of Wight’s works. I suggest that the basis of Wight’s theory of international society is essentially Realist. This chapter does not claim that Wight was a Realist tout court, as in the paradigmatic representation, but that his theory of an international society rests on a Realist foundation. As Wight was anxious to stress, the three traditions that he used to navigate the international were distinct but interweaving; nonetheless, it is possible to look at the play of ideas in Wight’s theory scheme, and to argue that Realist thought predominates within the three traditions, at least in how they apply to the balance of power and the nature of international society. Similar to Carr, there is an asymmetrical dialogue in which other theories interact with Realism, but it is the case that Realism dominates as the primary source of understanding the nature of international society.