Structural Realism: A Constitutive Analysis

Abstract

If power is the only valid currency of international politics, it remains a centric question that how much power a state needs to make its security sure? This paper is an attempt to constitutively analyze the modalities of structural realism. An attempt has been made to explore the basic view points of both Defensive Realism and Offensive Realism. The explanations and descriptions of the both theories has been investigated critically to craft an understanding that where do these theories co-relate and where do the disagreement is evident. An attempt has been made to study the post 9/11 world in the view of structural realist. An appraisal of Pakistan’s foreign policy under the purview of structural realism has also been discussed, so we may evaluate the structural imperatives for Pakistan’s foreign policy over the years. After understanding the theoretical construct of revisionist mechanism in mind this paper ends with the conclusion that offensive realism is all but theoretical continuity of defensive realism.