Randall Schweller

Randall Schweller
Alma mater	SUNY Stony Brook (B.A.) Columbia University (M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.)
School	Neoclassical realism
Institutions	Ohio State University
Main interests	International relations theory
Notable ideas	Balances of Interests theory Revisionist and Status-Quo States

Randall L. Schweller (born 1958)^[1] is Professor of Political Science at the Ohio State University, where he has taught since 1994.

He earned his PhD from Columbia University in 1993 and was as an Olin Fellow at Harvard University in 1993-94. His primary teaching and research interests include international security and international relations theory, and he is perhaps best known for his Balance of Interests theory, a revision to Kenneth Waltz's Balance of Power theory and Stephen Walt's Balance of Threat theory. His work on this subject includes: Randall Schweller, "Tripolarity and the Second World War", International Studies Quarterly 37:1 (March 1993) and Randall Schweller, Deadly Imbalances: Tripolarity and Hitler's Strategy of World Conquest (Columbia University Press, 1998).^[2]

Often associated with Structural Realists like Kenneth Waltz and Stephen Walt, he may more accurately be portrayed as a Neoclassical Realist^[3] (a term coined by Gideon Rose) because of his willingness to consider non-structural explanations of state behavior (other neoclassical realists include Fareed Zakaria, Thomas J. Christensen, and William Wohlforth). For instance: Randall Schweller and David Priess, "A Tale of Two Realisms: Expanding the Institutions Debate," Mershon International Studies Review 41:2 (April 1997)

He is also credited with reemphasizing the distinction between status-quo and revisionist states and incorporating that difference into realist theories of state behavior. Randall Schweller, "Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back in", International Security 19:1 (Summer 1994) and Randall Schweller, "Neorealism's Status-Quo Bias: What Security Dilemma?" Security Studies 5:3 (Spring 1996).

Schweller is an avid guitarist and fronted a cover band of the Grateful Dead named "Timberwolf."^[4]

Bibliography

Books

• Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium (Johns Hopkins University, 2014)
• Unanswered Threats: Political Constraints on the Balance of Power (Princeton University Press, 2006)
• Deadly Imbalances: Tripolarity and Hitler’s Strategy of World Conquest (Columbia University Press, 1998)

Articles

• “Trump’s Realism,” The H-Diplo/ISSF Policy Series, President Trump and IR Theory (April 2021)
• “Has Trump’s Foreign Policy Been Successful? A Four-Part Debate,” Pairagraph (October 7, 2020)
• “Three Cheers for Trump’s Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 97, No. 5 (September/October 2018)
• Anarchy: Revisiting G. John Ikenberry’s After Victory,” The British Journal of International Relations, Vol. 20, Issue 3 (August 2018).
• “Opposite but Compatible Nationalisms: A Neoclassical Realist Approach to the Future of US-China Relations,” The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 11, Issue 1 (March 2018)
• Why Trump Now: A Third-Image Explanation,” in Chaos in the Liberal Order: The Trump Presidency and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century., edited by Robert Jervis, Francis Gavin, Joshua Rovner, and Diane Labrosse (Columbia University Press, 2018)
• “The Concept of Middle Power,” in Victor D. Cha and Marie Dumond, eds., The Korean Pivot: The Study of South Korea as a Global Power (Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies (July 2017)
• “The Balance of Power in World Politics,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia, Politics, Oxford University Press (2016)
• “Rising Powers and Revisionism in Emerging International Orders,” Paper #16, Valdai Institute Publication, Russia (May 2015)
• “China’s Aspirations and the Clash of Nationalisms in East Asia: A Neoclassical Realist Examination,” International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2 (December 2014).
• “After Unipolarity: China’s Vision of International Order in an Era of U.S. Decline” International Security, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Summer 2011), co-authored with Xiaoyu Pu
• “Emerging Powers in the Age of Disorder.” Global Governance, Vol. 17, No. 3 (July-Sept. 2011)
• “Rational Theory for a Bygone Era,” Security Studies, Vol. 20 (September 2011)
• “The Future is Uncertain and the End is Always Near,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 24, No. 2 (September 2011)
• “Knowing the Unknown Unknowns: Misplaced Certainty and the Onset of War,” Security Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan-March 2011), co-authored with Jennifer Mitzen
• “The Logic and Illogic of Contemporary Realism,” International Theory, Vol. 2, Issue 3 (December 2010)
• “Entropy and the Trajectory of World Politics: Why Polarity Has Become Less Meaningful,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2010)
• “Ennui Becomes Us,” The National Interest, No. 105 (Jan/Feb 2010)
• "Power Test: Updating Realism In Response to the End of the Cold War," Security Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Spring 2000), co-authored with William Wohlforth
• "Neorealism's Status-Quo Bias: What Security Dilemma?" Security Studies 5:3 (Spring 1996)
• "Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back in", International Security 19:1 (Summer 1994)

References

External links

• Professional website and his curriculum vita
• "A Perspective From A Pro-Trump Political Science Professor"
• The Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy,” Vox News, an interview with Zack Beauchamp
• Articles at JSTOR