Battlefield praxis: The alliance of realism and constructivism and the 'fall' of liberal internationalism

Abstract

The Great Debates are an important stage in the development of International Relations (IR) as a science. However, the 'exactness' of its chronology and content, as well as the precise determination of the actors and results, is questionable on several grounds. Therefore, relying on this, often contradictory, interpretations of the outcome of the Great Debates, little can be said about the current state of the mentioned theoretical dialogue. Today, IR scholars mostly discuss abandoning the idea of macro theory and the pluralistic silence in which medium‐scale theories resonate in peace. However, this 'diagnosis' still does not give us an answer to the question of who really won the fight of so‐called big theories, or which theoretical paradigm today has the greatest influence within the disciplinary field? Applying the idea of reflexivity between the theory of international relations and the practice of foreign policy, the author of this paper rejects the restrictions of the mythos of the discipline (at the center of which is the myth of the Great Debates) and turns to the analysis of international political praxis as an instrument for the identification of the mentioned theoretical impact. At the center of the analysis are the foreign policy principles of the United States, which the author reviews in a hundred‐year time interval, in particular emphasizing the doctrine of Wilsonianism and the principles of foreign policy advocated by the current US President Donald Tramp. Facing Wilsonianism and Trampism (determining, in turn, the latter as a realistic‐constructivist Anti‐Wilsonian coalition), the author offers his view of the current state of paradigmatic 'clashes' in the theory and practice of international relations.

Velike debate predstavljaju važnu fazu u razvoju nauke o međunarodnim odnosima. Međutim 'egzaktnost' njihove hronologije i sadržaja i precizno određenje aktera i raspleta, upitno je po više osnova. Stoga se oslanjanjem na brojne, često međusobno kontradiktorne interpretacije ishoda Velikih debata malo toga može reći o trenutnom stanju pomenutog teorijskog dijaloga. Mada se najviše govori o napuštanju ideje makro teorije i pluralističkom zatišju u kome u miru obitavaju teorije srednjeg obima, nema odgovora na pitanje ko je zaista pobedio u okršaju tzv. velikih teorija, odnosno koja teorijska paradigma danas ima najveći uticaj unutar disciplinarnog polja. Vodeći se idejom refleksivnosti teorija međunarodnih odnosa i prakse spoljne politike, autor odbacuje ograničenja mythos‐a discipline (u čijem središtu se nalazi mit o Velikim debatama) i okreće se analizi međunarodnog političkog praxis‐a kao instrumentu identifikacije pomenutog uticaja. U središtu analize nalaze se spoljnopolitički principi SAD, koje autor posmatra u stogodišnjem vremenskom intervalu, posebno akcentujući doktrinu vilsonijanizma i principe spoljne politike koje zagovara aktuelni američki predsednik Donald Tramp. Sučeljavajući vilsonijanizam i trampizam autor nudi svoje viđenje trenutnog stanja paradigmatskog 'okršaja' u teoriji i praksi međunarodnih odnosa.