Realism’s Reality A Preliminary Analysis of 'Reality' Concept in E. H. Carr’s The Twenty Year’s Crisis

Abstract

A study of international relations since post-WW2 period has been highly influenced by Realism, and international phenomena have been explained through its theoretical lens. In order to understand Realism, we will need to study its core assumption of ‘reality’ because this fundamental concept shaped the way we study international relations today. The author analyzed this concept from a meta-theoretical perspective on E. H. Carr’s The Twenty Years’ Crisis and found its main contribution to how International Relations conceptualized international ‘reality.’ Carr’s ‘reality,’ which is not Utopia, eventually became one of the fundamental conceptions of how Realism study international relations until now.