When History Begins

Bertrand Badie (1)

1 CERI - Centre de recherches internationales (Sciences Po, CNRS)

It is fashionable to claim ‘the end of history’. As classical war seems to be over, many scholars – particularly Alexandre Kojève – argue that we currently face ‘the end of international relations’. This article considers the opposite, that is to say how we are now at the real beginning of international relations, and even of ‘intersocial relations’, whereby social actors and individuals are more and more involved. Such an analysis is also a way of reinterpreting the dawn of IR, with its internal debates and tensions as well as their present transformations. The article questions the traditional typology of IR theories, and points out correlations between theoretical challenges and changes or evolutions of history. It is also a way for shedding light on what could be considered, in such a chaos, the French approach of International Relations. Is it only a ‘French touch’ or the basis of a new paradigm?

Keywords: IR theory; end of history; sociology of IR; power politics

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Sociology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Political science

Bertrand Badie. When History Begins. European Review of International Studies, 2014, 1 (2), pp.3 - 15. ⟨10.3224/eris.v1i2.16500⟩. ⟨hal-03399422⟩