ABSTRACT
This chapter starts by providing an answer to the question: Why is there a continuity in Western IR theory? It argues that the ‘Waltzianization of IR theory’ is rooted in the link between the Thucydides realist approach, the Hobbes theoretical framework of the Westphalian paradigm and the US hegemony after World War II. Then the chapter focuses on three theoretical waves of IR studies that have contributed to pluralist IR theory: the internal self-criticism within the United States, started by Robert Keohane, and the rise of neoliberal institutionalism; the post-realist theoretical streams that emerged mainly in Germany (from the social-democratic thought to Habermas), Italy (from Gramsci to Bobbio) and France (Bourdeau); and comparative regional studies that link area studies and EU studies to IR theory in an innovative and pluralist way. Comparative regional and interregional studies, in particular, are conducive to theoretical innovation, for they explore the various approaches to regional institutionalization, express alternative background cultures in different continents and demonstrate structural features of a multilayered global governance. Resilient regional/interregional cooperation models are feeding the theoretical research on a ‘new multilateralism’ through a deepening dialogue among various academic communities around the world.
