Introduction: Realism and Liberalism

About the lecture

In this module, we look at Realism and Liberalism in depth, focusing in particular on: (i) the key arguments made by these two theories of international relations; (ii) when and why these theories became popular; (iii) Liberalism’s foundational belief in the usefulness of international institutions and historical context for this; (iv) Realism's sense of the apparent inevitability of international conflict in a bipolar system and historical context for this.

About the lecturer

Natasha Lindstaedt is a Professor of Government at the University of Essex. She has taught MA and undergraduate courses at the University of Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit (VU), California State University (Long Beach), and Ventura College. Her research interests include international development, authoritarian regimes, and 'Third World' politics, and in 2017 she released the work 'Global Politics and Violent Non-State Actors', which explores the emergence of violent non-state actors through a series of contemporary case studies and an interdisciplinary approach.