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Provide a 8 pages analysis while answering the following question: Explaining Post-Cold War International Politics: The Lens of Neorealism and Neoliberalism

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Provide a 8 pages analysis while answering the following question: Explaining Post-Cold War International Politics: The Lens of Neorealism and Neoliberalism. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. However, such expectations did not fully materialize, as the post-Cold War threw up its own challenges.

Neorealism and neoliberalism (or liberal institutionalism) were the dominant theoretical approaches that sought to explain the bipolar structure of the Cold War and its implications. In the post-Cold War era, these theories retained much of their analytical and methodological rigor, even in the face of challenges from alternative and novel interpretations of the international. The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze how neorealism and neoliberalism help us to understand post-Cold War international politics. To that end, we shall: look into the seminal changes that the international system underwent at the end of the Cold War to comprehend changing nature of international relations in the new era. survey the core theoretical propositions of the two theories in question. and finally, test the explanatory prowess of the theories in the light of the major trends and events post-1991.

The most obvious change from the Cold War in 1991 was that, with the demise of the USSR, the world had moved from bipolarity to unipolarity, and the US was the only remaining superpower. The removal of the specter of superpower competition from the international system also fuelled the anticipation of greater involvement of multilateral institutions, especially the United Nations, in the conduct of international diplomacy. Further, the post-Cold War found the abundance of intra-state war and other kinds of non-traditional violent conflict, while inter-state wars diminished dramatically.

Moreover, the shadow of international catastrophic terrorism loomed largely, and following the events of September 11, 2001, it can be said that international politics has well and truly moved into the post-9/11 era.