Constructivism - Wendt text

10 important questions on Constructivism - Wendt text

What was the objective of Wendt concerning rationalists and reflectivists?

To build a bridge between rationalists and reflectivists.

What is the critique of Wendt on Waltz's (neorealism) political structure?

Waltz assumes that the structure of the international system is that of self-help, because of the anarchic nature of that structure. Wendt wants to show that there is not one particular structure that follows logically from anarchy. Self-help arises out of interaction between states.

Why do the conceptions of other states matter for how we perceive their material power, according to Wendt?

It depends on the relationship between two states and how they view the other. If the UK would have nuclear weapons, this would be a smaller threat to the US than when North Korea has them. Since the US sees North Korea as violent and not to be trusted.
The distribution of power will always play a role, but how big this role is depends on how one country understands and expects the other as an actor in the international system.
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Wendt argues that apart from self-help, which he sees as an institution, there are 2 constitutive parts of anarchy in the international system. What are these?

1. The material substrate of agency;
2. The desire to preserve this material substrate, to survive. But this does not need to be by self-help.

What argument does Wendt make concerning predator states and the reaction of other states?

A predator state is a state that shows aggressive behavior. As a reaction to this aggressive behavior, other states are forced to engage in competitive power politics. So maybe not all states are inherently power-seeking but if one is then others have to follow suit.

Wendt argues worlds of power politics are socially constructed, however, this does not mean that the worlds can be changed just like that. What are the 2 reasons for this?

  1. Social systems are seen by its members as a social fact that reinforces certain behaviours and discourages others.
  2. Systemic change may also be inhibited by actor's interest in maintaining relatively stable role identities.

According to Wendt, egotistic states would still cooperate with other states. Why is that?

Because a condition is that by cooperating, potential gains are realized which would not have been realized by unilateral action.

What are the 2 important constraints on the transformation of identity and interest through cooperation?

  1. The process of change of identity through cooperation is step-by-step and slow.
  2. The evolution of cooperation story assumes that actors do not identify negatively with one another, which is not always the case.

What are the core features of the Lockean anarchy on which Wendt relies?

States view each other as rivals, but they do not intend to fight each other.

Wendt pays the most attention to what concept in his post Cold War article?

Social ontology.

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