International Relations and Foreign Policy
Research Guide

Finnemore and Sikkink in 'International Norm Dynamics and Political Change' (1998) argue that norms create social structure and standards of appropriateness, driving political change through ideational turns since the 1980s. This work, with 7887 citations, shows norms as central to theorizing state behavior beyond material power.

Wendt's 'Social Theory of International Politics' (1999) develops the international system as a social construction, contrasting realist views with structural idealism, cited 7105 times. His earlier 'Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics' (1992) posits that state actions under anarchy depend on social structures, with 5593 citations.

Putnam's 'Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games' (1988) describes how leaders negotiate internationally while gaining domestic support, linking state-centric theories to constituent ratification, cited 7282 times. This framework accounts for entanglements between domestic politics and international relations.

Nye in 'Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics' (2004) defines soft power as the ability to attract and persuade, distinct from coercive hard power, coined in the late 1980s and cited 5065 times. It enables success in world politics through cultural and ideological influence.

Fearon's 'Rationalist explanations for war' (1995) shows that rational states fight due to private information, commitment problems, or issue indivisibilities, despite preferable bargains, cited 3876 times. This challenges views that war occurs only without peaceful options.

Waltz's 'Theory of International Politics' (1980), reviewed by Frankel and Randle with 8549 and 6405 citations respectively, presents structural realism where anarchy shapes state behavior and power balances maintain order.