IR Moral Realism as a Universal Theory

作者：Yan Xuetong · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.46692/9781529232646.003 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

A decade or so has passed since Nele Noesselt published ‘Is There a “Chinese School” of IR?’ in 2012. Now, many international relations (IR) scholars regard IR moral realism as one of the major theories affiliated with the ‘Chinese School’ and view it as a theory that shares the same defects of that school. This is a common misunderstanding about IR moral realism. Thus, this chapter will address these criticisms and illustrate that they are not applicable to moral realism. Disagreement on the issue of ‘Chinese school’ In 2004, Chinese IR scholars held a conference on ‘Constructing Chinese Theories, Establishing Chinese School’. Faced with the new upsurge of constructing Chinese IR theories, I took the opposite stance to that of most Chinese IR scholars. It may be because my thinking was so different on this issue, that Shijie Jinji Yu Zhengahi (World Economics and Politics) invited me in 2006 to write an essay to give my opinion. In the opening paragraph I argue that ‘IR theories themselves do not have national identities, thus it is impossible to construct Chinese IR theories’. From then on, Qin Yaqing, the leading advocate for the ‘Chinese School’, and I have continuously debated on this issue. At the moment, Qin's position has been widely accepted by both Chinese and international adherents, while mine has received little support. The term ‘Chinese School’ or ‘Chinese IR theories (IRT)’ have increasingly appeared in papers, dissertations, and books. Nevertheless, this popu...