What is the best IR theory and why?

The world is facing many scourges from terrorism to epidemic outbreak Ebola and the problems of national interests prevail not only within Asian countries but also in other countries across the globe. For instance, the sovereign disputes in the South China Sea over rocks and islands, a region believed to be rich in natural resources such as gas and petroleum, lead many ASEAN countries to be at odds with the Chinese government. These escalating tensions brought about deadlock at the 2012 ASEAN Summit in Cambodia, one of the best allies of China that receives millions of dollars in form of international aid from Beijing. Accordingly, which theory of International Relations does well describe the world of today, Realism, Liberalism or Marxism?

Conflict is the dominant theme in Realism. In 1999, NATO intervention led by the United States and European Union in the Kosovo crisis well reflected the weakness of the international institutions such as United Nations in resolving the problem. Once again, the annexation of Crimea to Russia by the Kremlin shows that the most powerful countries do what they can and the weak countries suffer what they must (Thucydides, 460-400 BC). These tit-for-tat actions depict the influence of the most powerful countries in terms of armed forces.

On the contrary, cooperation is perceived by the partisans of Liberalism as an important catalyst to bring about democratic peace and economic prosperity. The creation of European Union in 1952 has revealed the importance of international cooperation to end conflicts between the nations, bring peace to the region, and yield economic prosperity in the region. This good example led some countries in South-East Asia to form a new institution ASEAN in 1968 aimed at improving the growing economy of each ASEAN country and that of the region. Despite the economic growth within the ASEAN nations, human rights issues are very controversial in some ASEAN countries such as liberty of expression that is stifled by Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Burmese governments.

As for Marxism, the world is driven by globalization and good governance. For instance, American firms such as Coca-Cola, McDonald, and so on are located not only in the United States but also in other countries across the globe from France to South Africa and Brazil to Thailand. These firms bring about jobs to local markets, generate more incomes to direct and indirect workers, bring new technology and alleviate poverty in those countries. Economic prosperity is allocated in accordance with labor force and used natural resources. Despite this economic improvement, the enormous inequality between the rich and the poor is very common in those developing countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, and so on. The rich become richer while the poor become poorer.

Therefore, the world is not well defined by these sole international relations concepts. Neither Realism nor Liberalism nor Marxism could drive the world in a good direction. There is no balance between the rich and the poor and between the powerful countries and the weak countries. The combination of these theories brings about democratic peace, international cooperation, equality between the rich and the poor, and economic, politic, cultural and scientific prosperity and development. Accordingly, Constructivism, derived from Neo-liberalism and Neo-realism, might be the best International Relations theory and be able to define the world of today. Rules and norms play an essential role in guiding the international actors’ behavior, for instance NGO, IGO, States, and so on, and in structuring the international life (Klotz and Lynch, 1999). Besides, the identity and the interest of the States are socially built based on the action and practice of the States and the civil society. For example, one of the best phenomena of Constructivism brings about Kyoto protocol which is respected by 192 countries around the world to fight climate change.

https://chanmonyloeng.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/in-my-opinion-what-is-the-best-ir-theory-and-why/