Since the end of the Second World War, many political, military, and economic international organisations have emerged to manage international politics. At the same time, many policy makers, scholars, and commentators have argued that new ideas and norms define inter-state relations. Nationalism has given way to cosmopolitanism, security competition to economic competition, and struggle for power to the struggle for cooperation. According to this narrative, the twenty first century is very different from previous centuries.
However, international organisations have failed to manage international politics, while new ideas and norms have failed to define a new era of inter-state relations. In the contemporary world, individual states, nationalism, security competition, and power still matter. For this reason, CGSRS promotes the realist approach to understanding and explaining international affairs. We build on the work of academics such as Hans Morgenthau and policy makers such as Henry Kissinger who have effectively used realist insights to analyse and shape international politics. From classical realism to neoclassical realism, CGSRS represents the whole spectrum of realist thought.