Ideas of power and the power of ideas

Realist works are not in any sense congested with enthusiastic championing of the ability of ideas to shape international politics. The realist project is to balance imperatives of power against the demands of ideas and ethics. Of course, the central argument of realist thought is that ideas should be analytically subverted to power, that the key imperative is the survival of the state and that action should be directed towards the accumulation of power for this end. Neoclassical realist theory, which emphasizes the importance of power while admitting the impact on policy-making of domestic ideas, organizes the insights of classical realism for each of these modes of theory. While the balance of power in the international system is constraining, there remains considerable autonomy and scope for creativity on the part of policy-makers to shape their state's foreign policy in response to external pressures.