International Relations Theories and the Pandemic: Old Wines in New Bottles and an Aging Wine

This study debates how international relations theories think about the Covid-19 pandemic. It argues that the three mainstream theories, i.e. realism, liberalism and constructivism, have nothing to offer but more of the same thing. They are assumed to be like old wine in new bottles. However, complexity theory, since its engagement in the IR field is still a project in its early stages, is like aging wine that has yet to mature. The study concludes that a realist approach presents the pandemic as a threat that requires states to adhere more to self-help politics; a liberal approach presents it as a transnational challenge to the liberal International Order and its norms and institutions; while a constructivist approach presents it as a social construction; it is “what states make of it.” Finally, the study argues that complexity theory introduces the pandemic as a complex issue that requires an analytical eclectic view.

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Abstract

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This study debates how international relations theories think about the Covid-19 pandemic. It argues that the three mainstream theories, i.e. realism, liberalism and constructivism, have nothing to offer but more of the same thing. They are assumed to be like old wine in new bottles. However, complexity theory, since its engagement in the IR field is still a project in its early stages, is like aging wine that has yet to mature. The study concludes that a realist approach presents the pandemic as a threat that requires states to adhere more to self-help politics; a liberal approach presents it as a transnational challenge to the liberal International Order and its norms and institutions; while a constructivist approach presents it as a social construction; it is “what states make of it.” Finally, the study argues that complexity theory introduces the pandemic as a complex issue that requires an analytical eclectic view.

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