Neorealism in Search of New Territory

Abstract

Neorealism, States, and the Modern Mass Army. By Joao Resende-Santos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 321 pp., $29.99 paper (ISBN-13: 978-0-521-68965-6). Many students of international relations have found themselves attracted to the parsimony and elegance of neorealist theory. Yet, as Waltz (1986:329) has himself observed, neorealist structuralism only explains “a small number of big and important things.” Subsequent scholars have therefore attempted to expand the theoretical and empirical boundaries of neorealism. Resende-Santos is no different in this regard as he attempts to claim new territory theoretically through his “theory of neorealist emulation” and empirically through the study of Latin America. Orthodox neorealists are unlikely to be persuaded by the theoretical claims, but neoclassical realists would find much to appreciate in this book. The discussion of emulation situates this work nicely in general International Relations (IR) theory as well as in security studies more specifically. Latin Americanists interested in the effects of interstate competition in the region should also find plenty of material to digest and debate. Finally, this work offers some of the building blocks needed to connect general IR theory with the literature on state building. Military emulation is defined as “the deliberate imitation by one state of any aspect of another state's military system that bears upon its own military system” (p. 9). The basic thesis of the book is that states will emulate the military organization of the great power with the most recent proven effectiveness in war when faced with a threatening security environment. In particular, Resende-Santos wants to explain why states emulate, why they choose specific military systems, when they emulate, and the variation in the pace and scale of emulation. Resende-Santos develops a neorealist theory of emulation that is then illustrated with reference to the historical record in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile between 1870 and …