Is Anybody Still a Realist?

Abstract

The lead article in this issue argues that realist scholars of international relations no longer embrace realism's core principles. Realism, according to Jeffrey Legro of the University of Virginia and Andrew Moravcsik of Harvard University, "is in trouble." They base this observation on their analysis of recent scholarship by neoclassical and defensive realists who, in an effort to address anomalies found in realist theory, have instead undermined the theoretical core of realism itself.