User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar)/Group 2/Power/Power of political theories in IR

A powerful tool for analyzing events and humans behaviors
Theories are leading and shaping the world of politics. Realism, liberalism, Marxism - all these theories can help us to understand and analyse events and human interactions from a specific viewpoint. Confronting and comparing different theories, being able to understand their different opinion from different view angles, help us to have a global comprehension of the world politics. As Stephen Walt (1998) states “Competition between theories helps reveal their strengths and weaknesses and spurs subsequent refinements, while revealing flaws in conventional wisdom.” In fact, understanding the attitudes and the position of different countries or international actors by comparing their respective policies enable us to have a holistic nature of the issue at stake.

The power of prediction
Subsequently, different from a simple perspective, a theory reinforces the ability of analysts and decision makers to interpret and predict events and human behaviors. Like mathematical models with probabilities, theories are able, depending on the global environment, to predict how humans are going to react. Robert Cox (1981), suggests that theories exist purposefully and can be divided into two categorizes:  the “problem-solving theory” , whose purpose is to maintain “smooth” relationship between actors by resolving troubles and the “critical theory” which calls into question the current system and its possible evolution. In fact, the critical theory “seeks to understand the process of change”.

A strategic tool to plan state policies
Theories are pathways for reaching a specific aim and for planning actions.