Ikenberry, international relations theory, and the rise of China

In this essay, I make two points. The first concerns the no longer fashionable, but still important, ‘isms’ of international relations (IR) theory. Over the course of his career, particularly in his 2001 book After Victory, John Ikenberry has answered better than anyone else a challenge put to liberals by realists, particularly E. H. Carr (2001). My second point is on the decidedly fashionable and important topic of the rise of China. I fear that Ikenberry is too sanguine about China’s effects on the liberal international order (LIO), and indeed, his theory’s own emphasis on liberal hegemons gives us one reason why.1