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Realism Vs. Structural Realism
- Realism centers on the anarchic international system and states' need for self-help.
- Classical realism differs from structural realism by emphasizing states' purposes, history, and ideas as drivers of behavior.
Why Structural Realism Dominated
- Structural realism rose because scholars wanted parsimonious, science-like theories and Waltz provided a clear framework.
- Classical realism resists mechanistic natural-science models and stresses uncertainty, motives, and context-specific judgment.
Practice Judgment Over Mechanistic Models
- Treat world politics like gardening, not mechanics: gather evidence but apply judgment to particular actors and contexts.
- Prepare for uncertainty rather than pretending you face known probability distributions.