Darth Realism: Confronting the Dark Side of Global Governance

Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) Podcasts

What is a realist perspective on Global Governance (GG) and the current liberal world order? This talk seeks to dispel the disciplinary assumption that realism has little to say on the subject. It outlines realist explanations for contemporary world order and, in so doing, underscores why realism remains an important corrective to analytical perspectives which equate GG with what is non-coercive and normatively desirable. Jennifer Sterling-Folker is the Alan R. Bennett Honors Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut. She is an international relations theorist whose writing focuses on theories of international organization and global governance. She is the author of Making Sense of International Relations Theory (Lynne Rienner, 2005; 2013); Theories of International Cooperation and the Primacy of Anarchy: Explaining U.S. International Monetary Policy-Making After Bretton Woods (SUNY Press, 2002); numerous book chapters and articles that have appeared in International Studies Quarterly, International Studies Review, and Millennium. She is also a co-editor of the BISA journal, Review of International Studies, and a member of the ISA publications committee. She has served as a co-editor of International Studies Review, an Associate Editor of International Studies Perspective, the series editor for Dilemmas in World Politics, and a member of the ISA Nominations Committee.