Jonathan Kirshner
Biographic Data
| ID | 3759721 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jonathan Kirshner |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jonathan |
| FAMILY NAME | Kirshner |
| SIGNATURE | KIRSHNER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cornell University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 234 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Classical Realism is not ‘ Everything, Everywhere, All at Once ’
In their assessments of An Unwritten Future: Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics , two distinguished scholars of World Politics engage in a spirited contestation about the role of classical realism in International Relations (IR) theory. Richard Ned Lebow aspires to defend the paradigm from what he suggests are barbarians at the gate. In this response I offer rejoinders to his treatment of E. H. Carr and Robert Gilpin, and his characterizat…
Classical Realism in World Politics. Précis to a Symposium
This paper introduces some of the major themes of An Unwritten Future: Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics , and provides a short illustration of how the analytical apparatus elaborated there can offer fruitful insights into understanding enduring puzzles in international relations. An Unwritten Future explores, illuminates and interrogates Classical Realism, an approach to the study of world politics that is contrasted with Structural Real…
The New Makers of Modern Strategy: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age
An Unwritten Future: Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics
An argument for the classical realist approach to world politics An Unwritten Future offers a fresh reassessment of classical realism, an enduring approach to understanding crucial events in the international political arena. Jonathan Kirshner identifies the fundamental flaws of classical realism’s would-be successors and shows how this older, more nuanced and sophisticated method for studying world politics better explains the formative events o…
Unwritten Future: Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics
Unwritten Future - Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics
Handle Him with Care: The Importance of Getting Thucydides Right
Scholars from numerous disciplines continue to study, debate, and value Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War. This review essay first explores and elaborates many of the enduring and vital contributions of Thucydides for IR theory. It then assesses and engages three new books, including a major, wide-ranging collection of new essays and a very influential (and deeply flawed) attempt to apply the lessons of that work—one that warns of a “Thucydides T…
The International Consequences of Financial Fragility
The United States is unrepaired and still vulnerable; Europe is hobbled and encumbered by the patchwork straitjacket of its political economy. The rest of the world, less directly affected by the crisis, is actively searching for something different
Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium
The Economic Sins of Modern IR Theory and the Classical Realist Alternative
ISMs matter. They reflect underlying philosophical points of departure and are rooted in specific explicit assumptions about how the world works. The very different expectations and conclusions of diverse theories often stem from the fact that those theories were derived from distinct and contrasting paradigmatic roots. To be aware of those foundations is to understand the likely strengths, weaknesses, limitations, controversies, and specific att…
Power, Order, and Change in World Politics
Are there recurring historical dynamics and patterns that can help us understand today's power transitions and struggles over international order? What can we learn from the past? Are the cycles of rise and decline of power and international order set to continue? Robert Gilpin's classic work, War and Change in World Politics offers a sweeping and influential account of the rise and decline of leading states and the international orders they crea…
Same as it ever was? Continuity and change in the international monetary system
For at least a decade, many have argued that the predominance of the dollar as the world's currency will gradually erode, and give way to a more multipolar international monetary order. The four papers in this special issue challenge this conventional wisdom, and hold that the hegemony of the dollar remains irresistible and unchallenged. Looking carefully at available evidence, each paper argues forcefully that the dollar remains predominant, and…
Bringing Them All Back Home? Dollar Diminution and U.S. Power
Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System B. Eichengreen
Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System B. Eichengreen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) This is a most welcome book: an asse
The tragedy of offensive realism: Classical realism and the rise of China
What is the realist position on how to deal with the rise of China? One prominent realist approach, associated with John Mearsheimer, calls for the US to do whatever it can to slow China’s rise. However, while this is a realist perspective, it is not the realist perspective. In particular, realist approaches that derive from a classical foundation suggest policies fundamentally different from those favored by Mearsheimer. This article argues that…
Sovereign Wealth Funds and National Security: The Dog that Will Refuse to Bark
Concerns have been raised that Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) might be used by governments to advance international political goals, raising red flags about their possible economic and national security consequences. These concerns are overstated. Warnings about national security threats related to foreign investment have been sounded repeatedly throughout history, but they have invariably been false alarms. Although there are novel attributes abo…
Keynes, legacies, and inquiry
Dollar primacy and American power: What's at stake
While the demise of the dollar has been predicted in the past, expectations of a fundamental change in the international role of the dollar are increasingly widespread, and eminently plausible. From a situation where the dollar was the undisputed and dominant international currency, one likely scenario is that it will become one of several key currencies that could be characterized as ‘peer competitors’. This raises the question: does it matter? …
Globalization, American Power, and International Security
Journal Article Globalization, American Power, and International Security Get access Jonathan Kirshner Jonathan Kirshner JONATHAN KIRSHNER is professor of government and Director of the Peace Studies Program at Cornell University. He is the author, most recently, of Appeasing Bankers: Financial Caution on the Road to War. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science Quarterly, Volume 123, Issue 3, Fal…
Is There a Keynesian High Politics
Donald Markwell's John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace is a thoughtful and knowledgeable book. Yet, it does not live up to the promise of its title, at least not as far as readers of the International Studies Review are likely to be concerned. Although producing a creditable addition to the enormous literature on Keynes, Markwell spends most of his time visiting terrain that is likely to be familiar to …
The Changing Calculus of Conflict
Stephen Brooks' Producing Security is a very fine book that advances our understanding of globalization and of the links between economics and national security. In this paper I evaluate favorably and explore the frontiers of the book's chief contributions: its elucidation of the globalization of production, its illustration of the novelty of that phenomenon, and its consideration of the significance of this for world politics. I then raise one b…
The Future of Money
The Future of Money. By Benjamin J. Cohen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. 312p. $29.95. Benjamin Cohen has produced yet another excellent volume on the political economy of international monetary affairs, this time with a worthy successor to his previous opus, The Geography of Money (1998). Like most of Cohen's scholarship, The Future of Money displays the author's remarkable facility with the vast breadth of issues, theories, puzzl…
Money is politics
The management of money is always and everywhere political: for every policy choice, there is an alternative that some actors would prefer. The contemporary salience of enormous and influential financial markets has obscured this immutable political reality, by leaving the impression that market forces transcend politics, and render political conflicts moot. Since market forces impose the 'best practice' on states, policies are chosen by the forc…
The Study of Money
Monetary phenomena define the contours of the contemporary global economy. This is a recent development, and it will transform the study of international political economy (IPE). Two excellent new books,The Geography of Money, by Benjamin Cohen, andMad Money, by Susan Strange, will frame, support, and provide the point of departure for scholars addressing this vital question. Ultimately, however, and perhaps necessarily, these books raise more qu…
Rationalist explanations for war
The microfoundations of economic sanctions
(1997). The microfoundations of economic sanctions. Security Studies: Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 32-64
Dollar primacy and American power: What's at stake
While the demise of the dollar has been predicted in the past, expectations of a fundamental change in the international role of the dollar are increasingly widespread, and eminently plausible. From a situation where the dollar was the undisputed and dominant international currency, one likely scenario is that it will become one of several key currencies that could be characterized as ‘peer competitors’. This raises the question: does it matter? …
The Economic Sins of Modern IR Theory and the Classical Realist Alternative
ISMs matter. They reflect underlying philosophical points of departure and are rooted in specific explicit assumptions about how the world works. The very different expectations and conclusions of diverse theories often stem from the fact that those theories were derived from distinct and contrasting paradigmatic roots. To be aware of those foundations is to understand the likely strengths, weaknesses, limitations, controversies, and specific att…
Money is politics
The management of money is always and everywhere political: for every policy choice, there is an alternative that some actors would prefer. The contemporary salience of enormous and influential financial markets has obscured this immutable political reality, by leaving the impression that market forces transcend politics, and render political conflicts moot. Since market forces impose the 'best practice' on states, policies are chosen by the forc…
The tragedy of offensive realism: Classical realism and the rise of China
What is the realist position on how to deal with the rise of China? One prominent realist approach, associated with John Mearsheimer, calls for the US to do whatever it can to slow China’s rise. However, while this is a realist perspective, it is not the realist perspective. In particular, realist approaches that derive from a classical foundation suggest policies fundamentally different from those favored by Mearsheimer. This article argues that…
Strategy, economic relations, and the definition of national interests
(1999). Strategy, economic relations, and the definition of national interests. Security Studies: Vol. 9, Power and the Purse: Economic Statecraft, Interdependence, and National Security, pp. 119-156
Keynes, capital mobility and the crisis of embedded liberalism
This article argues that in an era characterized by increased practical and analytical concern for the domestic consequences of international market forces, through the study of Keynes' own writing we can better understand the significance of the contemporary challenges to the compromise of embedded liberalism and the consequences of the possible unraveling of that order. A Keynesian interpretation of the Asian financial crisis illustrates both t…
Rationalist explanations for war
The Study of Money
Monetary phenomena define the contours of the contemporary global economy. This is a recent development, and it will transform the study of international political economy (IPE). Two excellent new books,The Geography of Money, by Benjamin Cohen, andMad Money, by Susan Strange, will frame, support, and provide the point of departure for scholars addressing this vital question. Ultimately, however, and perhaps necessarily, these books raise more qu…
Political economy in security studies after the cold war
In contemporary International Relations theory, there exists a sharp distinction between international political economy and security studies. However, this is largely a false distinction, a product of peculiar circumstances associated with the cold war, and one which is becoming increasingly anachronistic in the post-cold war era. In order to understand international relations in this era, a reintegration of the discipline is necessary. This art…
Same as it ever was? Continuity and change in the international monetary system
For at least a decade, many have argued that the predominance of the dollar as the world's currency will gradually erode, and give way to a more multipolar international monetary order. The four papers in this special issue challenge this conventional wisdom, and hold that the hegemony of the dollar remains irresistible and unchallenged. Looking carefully at available evidence, each paper argues forcefully that the dollar remains predominant, and…
The New Makers of Modern Strategy: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age
Handle Him with Care: The Importance of Getting Thucydides Right
Scholars from numerous disciplines continue to study, debate, and value Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War. This review essay first explores and elaborates many of the enduring and vital contributions of Thucydides for IR theory. It then assesses and engages three new books, including a major, wide-ranging collection of new essays and a very influential (and deeply flawed) attempt to apply the lessons of that work—one that warns of a “Thucydides T…
Keynes, legacies, and inquiry
Sovereign Wealth Funds and National Security: The Dog that Will Refuse to Bark
Concerns have been raised that Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) might be used by governments to advance international political goals, raising red flags about their possible economic and national security consequences. These concerns are overstated. Warnings about national security threats related to foreign investment have been sounded repeatedly throughout history, but they have invariably been false alarms. Although there are novel attributes abo…
Globalization, American Power, and International Security
Journal Article Globalization, American Power, and International Security Get access Jonathan Kirshner Jonathan Kirshner JONATHAN KIRSHNER is professor of government and Director of the Peace Studies Program at Cornell University. He is the author, most recently, of Appeasing Bankers: Financial Caution on the Road to War. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science Quarterly, Volume 123, Issue 3, Fal…
The Changing Calculus of Conflict
Stephen Brooks' Producing Security is a very fine book that advances our understanding of globalization and of the links between economics and national security. In this paper I evaluate favorably and explore the frontiers of the book's chief contributions: its elucidation of the globalization of production, its illustration of the novelty of that phenomenon, and its consideration of the significance of this for world politics. I then raise one b…
Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium
Bringing Them All Back Home? Dollar Diminution and U.S. Power
Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Research
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Currency and Coercion: The Political Economy of International Monetary Power
Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Research
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
The microfoundations of economic sanctions
(1997). The microfoundations of economic sanctions. Security Studies: Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 32-64
Political economy in security studies after the cold war
In contemporary International Relations theory, there exists a sharp distinction between international political economy and security studies. However, this is largely a false distinction, a product of peculiar circumstances associated with the cold war, and one which is becoming increasingly anachronistic in the post-cold war era. In order to understand international relations in this era, a reintegration of the discipline is necessary. This art…
Keynes, capital mobility and the crisis of embedded liberalism
This article argues that in an era characterized by increased practical and analytical concern for the domestic consequences of international market forces, through the study of Keynes' own writing we can better understand the significance of the contemporary challenges to the compromise of embedded liberalism and the consequences of the possible unraveling of that order. A Keynesian interpretation of the Asian financial crisis illustrates both t…
Books in review
Strategy, economic relations, and the definition of national interests
(1999). Strategy, economic relations, and the definition of national interests. Security Studies: Vol. 9, Power and the Purse: Economic Statecraft, Interdependence, and National Security, pp. 119-156
The Study of Money
Monetary phenomena define the contours of the contemporary global economy. This is a recent development, and it will transform the study of international political economy (IPE). Two excellent new books,The Geography of Money, by Benjamin Cohen, andMad Money, by Susan Strange, will frame, support, and provide the point of departure for scholars addressing this vital question. Ultimately, however, and perhaps necessarily, these books raise more qu…
Rationalist explanations for war
Money is politics
The management of money is always and everywhere political: for every policy choice, there is an alternative that some actors would prefer. The contemporary salience of enormous and influential financial markets has obscured this immutable political reality, by leaving the impression that market forces transcend politics, and render political conflicts moot. Since market forces impose the 'best practice' on states, policies are chosen by the forc…
The Future of Money
The Future of Money. By Benjamin J. Cohen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. 312p. $29.95. Benjamin Cohen has produced yet another excellent volume on the political economy of international monetary affairs, this time with a worthy successor to his previous opus, The Geography of Money (1998). Like most of Cohen's scholarship, The Future of Money displays the author's remarkable facility with the vast breadth of issues, theories, puzzl…
Is There a Keynesian High Politics
Donald Markwell's John Maynard Keynes and International Relations: Economic Paths to War and Peace is a thoughtful and knowledgeable book. Yet, it does not live up to the promise of its title, at least not as far as readers of the International Studies Review are likely to be concerned. Although producing a creditable addition to the enormous literature on Keynes, Markwell spends most of his time visiting terrain that is likely to be familiar to …
The Changing Calculus of Conflict
Stephen Brooks' Producing Security is a very fine book that advances our understanding of globalization and of the links between economics and national security. In this paper I evaluate favorably and explore the frontiers of the book's chief contributions: its elucidation of the globalization of production, its illustration of the novelty of that phenomenon, and its consideration of the significance of this for world politics. I then raise one b…
Dollar primacy and American power: What's at stake
While the demise of the dollar has been predicted in the past, expectations of a fundamental change in the international role of the dollar are increasingly widespread, and eminently plausible. From a situation where the dollar was the undisputed and dominant international currency, one likely scenario is that it will become one of several key currencies that could be characterized as ‘peer competitors’. This raises the question: does it matter? …
Globalization, American Power, and International Security
Journal Article Globalization, American Power, and International Security Get access Jonathan Kirshner Jonathan Kirshner JONATHAN KIRSHNER is professor of government and Director of the Peace Studies Program at Cornell University. He is the author, most recently, of Appeasing Bankers: Financial Caution on the Road to War. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Political Science Quarterly, Volume 123, Issue 3, Fal…
Sovereign Wealth Funds and National Security: The Dog that Will Refuse to Bark
Concerns have been raised that Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) might be used by governments to advance international political goals, raising red flags about their possible economic and national security consequences. These concerns are overstated. Warnings about national security threats related to foreign investment have been sounded repeatedly throughout history, but they have invariably been false alarms. Although there are novel attributes abo…
Keynes, legacies, and inquiry
Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System B. Eichengreen
Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System B. Eichengreen (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) This is a most welcome book: an asse
The tragedy of offensive realism: Classical realism and the rise of China
What is the realist position on how to deal with the rise of China? One prominent realist approach, associated with John Mearsheimer, calls for the US to do whatever it can to slow China’s rise. However, while this is a realist perspective, it is not the realist perspective. In particular, realist approaches that derive from a classical foundation suggest policies fundamentally different from those favored by Mearsheimer. This article argues that…
Bringing Them All Back Home? Dollar Diminution and U.S. Power
Power, Order, and Change in World Politics
Are there recurring historical dynamics and patterns that can help us understand today's power transitions and struggles over international order? What can we learn from the past? Are the cycles of rise and decline of power and international order set to continue? Robert Gilpin's classic work, War and Change in World Politics offers a sweeping and influential account of the rise and decline of leading states and the international orders they crea…
Same as it ever was? Continuity and change in the international monetary system
For at least a decade, many have argued that the predominance of the dollar as the world's currency will gradually erode, and give way to a more multipolar international monetary order. The four papers in this special issue challenge this conventional wisdom, and hold that the hegemony of the dollar remains irresistible and unchallenged. Looking carefully at available evidence, each paper argues forcefully that the dollar remains predominant, and…
Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium
The Economic Sins of Modern IR Theory and the Classical Realist Alternative
ISMs matter. They reflect underlying philosophical points of departure and are rooted in specific explicit assumptions about how the world works. The very different expectations and conclusions of diverse theories often stem from the fact that those theories were derived from distinct and contrasting paradigmatic roots. To be aware of those foundations is to understand the likely strengths, weaknesses, limitations, controversies, and specific att…
The International Consequences of Financial Fragility
The United States is unrepaired and still vulnerable; Europe is hobbled and encumbered by the patchwork straitjacket of its political economy. The rest of the world, less directly affected by the crisis, is actively searching for something different
Political science (26 works) · Law (20 works) · Economics (19 works) · Politics (16 works) · Law (13 works) · Political economy (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Global Financial Crisis and Policies (10 works) · International Relations and Foreign Policy (10 works)