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The book under review is part of an increasing trend in international relations (IR) scholarship that moves research beyond the established theoretical paradigms: realism, liberalism and constructivism. The "war of paradigms" has probably reached a dead end, given the lack of value in proving one "ism" superior to the other or proving "one always wins." Constructivists in general have also started to look at material factors as playing some role in outcomes, in addition to their preferred ideational and identity-based variables. Realists, on the other hand, are reluctant to move beyond their preferred variables, although neoclassical realism had emerged as an approach that can combine domestic and international-level variables. The big challenge has been how to combine the two kinds of variables offered by realism and constructivism without losing parsimony and rigour.
Barkin's book attempts to go beyond the fusion of variables. His effort is to combine the insights of the two paradigms, realism and constructivism. He calls it "realist constructivism" by focusing on corresponding elements in each paradigm. He argues that the claims of both paradigms against each other cannot stand scrutiny. "Claims by constructivists that realist theory is incompatible with inter-subjective epistemologies and methodologies are based on either caricatures or very narrow understandings of realism. And realist...