Neoclassical Realism, the State, and Foreign Policy

"By focusing on the state and its relationship to society within an uncertain international environment, Lobell, Ripsman, Taliaferro and their contributors advance a genuinely realist theory of foreign policy. An important set of essays that enhances our understanding of how countries assess and respond at both the international and domestic levels to security threats."
David A. Lake, University of California, San Diego

"This volume is the most systematic effort yet to define neoclassical realism, to differentiate it from other forms of realist and liberal international theory, and to extend the scope of its empirical applications. It emphasizes how internal state structures filter external threats and opportunities, and how state leaders evaluate threats, formulate strategies, and mobilize societal resources to support those strategies. These essays by leading neoclassical realist scholars are a must read for all serious students of international conflict."
Jack S. Levy, Board of Governors' Professor, Rutgers University

"Even those who are not card-carrying neo-classical realists will want to read this important attempt to define what is distinctive about this approach to understanding international politics. The volume shows off some excellent historical analysis done in this vein."
Jack Snyder, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations, Columbia University

"Necessary reading for students both of realism and of foreign policymaking … This volume succeeds well in realizing its stated goals: to specify the assumptions and analytical structures of neo-classical realism, and to identify some of the limitations of the approach. It provides an excellent starting point for considering the current state and future trajectories of the research tradition."
Samuel Barkin, Perspectives on Politics

"This is an authoritative, pathbreaking collection of essays on 'neoclassical realism', one of the most interesting developments in foreign policy analysis to have emerged in recent years … Even though the idea that domestic as well as structural factors need to be taken into account in studying foreign policy might seem not to need stating, the authors, and especially the three editors, flesh out this notion in constructive and imaginatively innovative ways. The case studies, based on solid historical research as well as common sense theory, are informative at every level. In short, this is a book that can be safely recommended to anyone interested in the analysis of foreign policy."
Chris Brown, American Historical Review

"All in all, the well balanced volume illustrates the enduring theoretical power of Realism and particularly Neoclassical Realism’s successful attempt to open the "black box" of the state … Neoclassical Realism, the State, and Foreign Policy can be recommended not only to those interested in international relations theory as it relates to the state and its foreign policy, but also to those who still believe - wrongly - that Realism is only about brutish and nasty power politics in the international system."
Jodok Troy, Diplomacy and Statecraft