Review of International Studies
- Review of International Studies / Volume 39 / Issue 04 / October 2013, pp 1015-1037
- Copyright © British International Studies Association 2013
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0260210512000538 (About DOI), Published online: 11 February 2013
Articles
Making sense of survival: refining the treatment of state preferences in neorealist theory
BURAK KADERCAN
Abstract
The assumption that ‘states' primary goal is survival’ lies at the heart of the neorealist paradigm. A careful examination of the assumption, however, reveals that neorealists draw upon a number of distinct interpretations of the ‘survival assumption’ that are then treated as if they are the same, pointing towards conceptual problems that surround the treatment of state preferences. This article offers a specification that focuses on two questions that highlight the role and function of the survival assumption in the neorealist logic: (i) what do states have to lose if they fail to adopt self-help strategies?; and (ii) how does concern for relevant losses motivate state behaviour and affect international outcomes? Answering these questions through the exploration of governing elites' sensitivity towards regime stability and territorial integrity of the state, in turn, addresses the aforementioned conceptual problems. This specification has further implications for the debates among defensive and offensive realists, potential extensions of the neorealist logic beyond the Westphalian states, and the relationship between neorealist theory and policy analysis.
(Online publication February 11 2013)
Burak Kadercan is an Assistant Professor of International Relations and the programme coordinator for Master in International Security (MIS) at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). He holds a PhD (2011) in Political Science from the University of Chicago. His main areas of interest involve International Relations theory, international security, military and diplomatic history, and foreign policy. He is currently working on a book manuscript that is built on his dissertation, tentatively titled Politics of Survival, Nationalism, and War for Territory: Evolution of Military Competition in the Interstate System. His next project will explore the impacts of religion on international politics, especially on foreign policy. Prior to joining IBEI, he has taught classes on the relationship between war and state-formation, private military industry, research methods, international security, diplomatic history, foreign policy, and nations and nationalism at the University of Chicago, University of Richmond, and Bogazici University.
