The Realist Tradition – A Review and Commentary

Daniel W. Drezner, in his 2007 research paper, “The Realist Tradition in American Public Opinion,” poses the following hypothesis,

For more than half a century, realist scholars of international relations have maintained that their world view is inimical to the American public. For a variety of reasons—inchoate attitudes, national history, American exceptionalism—realists assert that the U.S. government pursues realist policies in spite and not because of public opinion. …Survey and experimen...