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. ▪️ 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