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Some fear that Biden's foreign policy team will be populated w/ "realists"! 
Others fear potentially too many "liberal internationalists"!
Why the fear? Blame over the Iraq War (& not wanting a repeat).
But as I teach my students, neither `ist/ism' is to blame.
[THREAD]
Others fear potentially too many "liberal internationalists"!
Why the fear? Blame over the Iraq War (& not wanting a repeat).
But as I teach my students, neither `ist/ism' is to blame.
[THREAD]
A tweet this week that really brought the debate to light came from @McFaul. Let's just say it conjured a "spirited" response https://mobile.twitter.com/McFaul/status/1328198231835123712
Of the many responses, one worth reading in full is this thread by @PatPorter76, who pushes back explicitly on the Iraq War being a "realist war" https://twitter.com/PatPorter76/status/1328777667609583621
And Patrick's thread builds from the debate that played out between him in @ip_palgrave (where he offered the liberal internationalist case for the Iraq War)... https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-017-0115-z
...and Dan Deudney & John Ikenberry (Mr. "Liberal International Order" himself) in @SurvivalEditors (where they offered the realist case for the Iraq War). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00396338.2017.1349757
So why do I think placing blame for the Iraq War on an `ism' is misplaced?
Because the causes of the Iraq War are overdetermined: you can blame one, both, or neither for the war.
Because the causes of the Iraq War are overdetermined: you can blame one, both, or neither for the war.
Specifically, I show my students that George W. Bush exhibited motivations that could be labeled REALIST and could be labeled LIBERAL.
In a nutshell, I mean the following by both terms:
"realist" = fear of intentions drives security dilemma which makes preventive war possible
"liberal internationalist" = promotion of democracy domestically & internationally (in IOs) is beneficial to humanity in long run.
"realist" = fear of intentions drives security dilemma which makes preventive war possible
"liberal internationalist" = promotion of democracy domestically & internationally (in IOs) is beneficial to humanity in long run.
With respect to "realist" motivations, no clearer statement than his "Axis of Evil" remarks during the 2002 State of the Union address
