Ep 54: Jonathan Kirshner on Realism

Jonathan Kirshner, Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Boston College and author of An Unwritten Future: Realism, Uncertainty, and World Politics, joins the show to discuss realism and realists.

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Times

• 01:40 Introduction

• 02:25 What is Realism?

• 07:10 The birth of modern Realism

• 11:59 To be “scientific” and “predictive” 

• 15:10 Not a rejection of social sciences

• 19:30 “Purpose matters”

• 23:40 Liberalism 

• 28:04 The Twenty Years Crisis 

• 36:00 Ideology matters

• 42:07 The China challenge

• 48:04 Sleepwalking into war?

• 55:48 Where does classical realism fall short?

• 01:02:10 Finding moral counsel