Our discussions this week about the relevance of international theory was intriguing. It has always seemed to me that theory is applicable to everything. The fact that theories of international relations conflict, is not uncommon. The very nature of theory is that it is an unknown that persons hypothesize about, leaving room for disagreement, contradiction, and controversy.
Whats important, is that nations do not act according to a theory, but theories are used to attempt to label and categorize the actions of states. As our guest speaker on Wednesday pointed out, those in the bureaucracy are not concerned with the application of international relations theories, but with acting according to the necessity of the state, and according to personal, national, and international morals.
As a student, I can see the relevance in studying international relations theories in an attempt to understand and rationalize the actions of states, however, I can also see the downfall in obsessing over the logistics of theories instead of focusing on the actions that states have made. There is a happy medium between being sensible about the actions of states, and hypothesizing their future actions and being concerned with the current decisions of one’s state and others in the international sphere.
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