This thesis sets out to challenge the assumption widely held among IR scholars that Scientific Realism (SR) is the definite and final interpretation of realism. The introduction of SR into IR as the latter’s proper meta-theory has been the incentive for very intense debates about both meta-theoretical and theoretical IR issues. 

I argue that IR has uncritically adopted the strongest version of SR. This can be seen by comparing the different versions of SR and their anti-realist alternatives - as these have developed in the Philosophy of Science literature - to the version of SR which was introduced into IR. It is Critical Realism (CR), however, a version of SR that originated with Roy Bhaskar, which has dominated the SR debate in IR. This development has had negative consequences with respect to the quality of the argumentation about realism in IR. This notwithstanding, a positive implication of this situation is that IR scholars who belong in various traditions of thought have criticized SR from different theoretical angles and thus shed light on many of its shortcomings. 

I elaborate on the comments that have been made on meta-theoretical as well as theoretical issues and come up with my own conclusions about SR and CR. In this framework, I also deal with two special issues which have arisen from
this debate’s problematique: the question about whether reasons can be causes, which lies in the foundations of Wendt’s ‘constitutive explanation’, and the challenge of ‘meta-theoretical hypochondria’, according to which the extensive concern with meta-theory takes place at the expense of theorizing real-world political problems. Last, I show, by a way of a novel contribution, that Wendt’s
latest undertaking, of a ‘quantum social science’, although compatible with SR, suffers inconsistencies and misunderstandings in terms of its methodology, metaphysics, use of quantum mechanics, and application to IR. 

This thesis is an interdisciplinary study, which draws upon the Philosophy of Science, IR and Physics (namely Quantum Mechanics), in order to scrutinize the use of SR and CR into IR along with its implications for both IR metatheory
and IR theory.

National foreign policies and European political cooperation

Scientific realism in the philosophy of science and international relations

Whereas Ruggie and his associates have expended a great deal of effort in explaining how and why the principled meanings of multilateralism became institutionalized in most of the international organizations set up since 1945, less attention has been paid to the questions how they influence state policy today and whether they are likely to continue to do so in the future. This article discusses these questions and, in addition, examines whether the favourable view of multilateralism, which is predominant in the literature, can stand up to reality. The impact of multilateralism on Yugoslav policies pursued by the involved great powers is examined in an analysis of whether the great powers adhered to the multilateral consensus principle in situations where they found it inconvenient. The analysis shows that the great powers have generally respected the consensus principle although it repeatedly forced them to act in ways they would have preferred not to. While this finding suggests that the existing multila...

Multilateralism Matters, But How? The Impact of Multilateralism on Great Power Policy towards the Break-up of Yugoslavia

background

The Study of European Foreign Policy: Trends and Advances

Joining the European Union (EU) has had a transformative effect for the foreign policies of the new member states and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs). There is a growing body of literature that analyses Europeanisation of foreign policies of EU member states as a result of their participation in Common Foreign and Security Policy. At the same time, the significance of learning in bringing change in foreign policy remains underexplored avenue of international relations (IR) and foreign policy analysis (FPA). This article demonstrates how learning processes can contribute to the processes of Europeanisation and shows what are the possible inhibitors to institutionalisation of the lessons learnt at individual level.

methods

Foreign ministries and limits to organisational learning in Central Eastern Europe

Durante 10 anos Espana ha ocupado un lugar destacado en la maquinaria diplomatica de los Doce/Quince. Durante esos anos los câmbios han estado a la orden del dia. Europa y, tras ella, el resto dei mundo han cambiado radicalmente, dejando atras varias decadas de Guerra Fria. La Espana recien llegada ai producto mas exitoso de Ia Europa bipolar, la Comunidad Europea, tuvo que madurar rapidamente y reaccionar frente a un mundo en cambio. El resultado de todo ello ha sido que Ia ingenuidad, recordando las palabras del ministro Francisco Fernandez Ordonez, ha dado paso ai realismo y al pragmatismo.

National foreign policies and European political cooperation

Citations

Scientific realism in the philosophy of science and international relations

Multilateralism Matters, But How? The Impact of Multilateralism on Great Power Policy towards the Break-up of Yugoslavia

The Study of European Foreign Policy: Trends and Advances

Foreign ministries and limits to organisational learning in Central Eastern Europe

De la ingenuidad al pragmatismo: 10 años de participación española en la maquinaria diplomática europea

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