Prospects, Promise, and Limitations of Moral Realism

Abstract

This chapter examines the basic assumptions and arguments of Yan Xuetong’s moral realism, analyses its prospects and promises by comparing it with two mainstream Western international relations (IR) theories, neorealism and constructivism, and also critically evaluates the limitations of moral realism. The first part of the chapter provides an overview of mainstream IR theories and the potential contributions of moral realism. The second part places moral realism in the context of cross-cultural academic dialogue between moral realism and mainstream Western IR theories, with a detailed comparison between moral realism on the one hand and neorealism and constructivism on the other. The third part critically evaluates moral realism and identifies its limitations.