International Relations 101

This section of the site seeks to make the complex and ever-changing world of international relations and foreign policy accessible to people outside the field. From time to time I will put articles, here, on “understanding international relations (IR) and foreign policy (FP),” with particular focus on the United States and Middle East states.

Listed on the left side of this page are several current articles. They do not have to be read in the order they appear in the list, but they were written in that order as a series, with IR & Theory starting it off, then Realism & Idealism, then Neoconservatism. The article on IR Constructivism and the English School is not quite ready yet, but it was necessary to create the page in the meantime. Others will follow in due course.

This material was adapted and developed for this site from chapters in the new book I’m writing. The articles will try to fill in as many blanks as possible and provide a better feel for the complexity and multi-dimensionality of international relations and why certain foreign policies are chosen instead of others.

But I’m including these articles because they also pull duty as a necessary background for understanding the wisdom-based alternative approaches to international relations and foreign policy that are being developed by The Wisdom Project. If alternatives are to be offered, they really have to be alternatives, and to know if they are, an adequate awareness of reigning paradigms is first necessary. As one wit has said, even rampant imperialism appears wise to the emperor.

A further short explanation appears at International Relations, and several articles, with others to come, on recent issues, events, situations, and political actors can be found at On International Relations, under Writings in the main header atop the page.

If you have a suggestion about improving this section, or comments in general, you may reach me by using the Contact page.