Theorizing populism in international relations: a classical realist perspective

This paper explores the theoretical challenges posed by the rise of populism for IR, employing a classical realist framework. While there is a rapidly growing literature on populism, IR has so far shunned its own theories to analyse populism. Drawing on Hans Morgenthau, we argue that his concept of the political can provide important insights to formulate a normative critique of the political potential and dangers inherent in populism. Informed by an effort to recognise the centrality of power and antagonism in politics, Morgenthau postulated that openness and indeterminacy are the very essence of politics that must be defended. Against this backdrop, we discuss how populism is a reaction to a depoliticisation processes, ranging from technologisation and scientification to the hegemonisation of neoliberal ideology, and evaluate to what extent populism is suitable for re-politicising politics and preserving it as an open and critical space of public political debate.