ABSTRACT
Constructivists thus challenge the common assumption in International Relations (IR) that interests derive from material sources. This chapter tackles the issue of levels of analysis by surveying arguments that use comparative case studies to differentiate international, domestic, and transnational influences, primarily focusing on state leaders. It suggests a range of potential processes, and then concentrates on those scholars who explore communication and negotiation as two mechanisms that can change interests. The chapter focuses on speech as action brings us back to debates over rationality. Then it shows the unresolved issues of intentionality, rather than rationality, are at the center of abiding divisions among constructivists. While constructivists may agree that states get socialized into the international system, drawing attention to processes rather than outcomes paints significantly different pictures of power dynamics, capabilities, and disparities. For constructivists, interests are the product of constitutive processes that lead people, as individuals and members of collectivities, to synthesize a wide range of needs and desires.
