Offensive vs. Defensive Realism

Interpreting the Competing Theories of Power and Security

Realism Foundations II: Offensive vs. Defensive Realism

And Why Existential Imperatives Govern Both

In the intellectual battlefield of structural realism, a quiet civil war has shaped much of modern geopolitical analysis. The fault line lies between two rival theories—defensive realism and offensive realism. Both agree that the international system is ana…