Randall Schweller

Randall L. Schweller (born 1958) is Professor of Political Science at the Ohio State University, where he has taught since 1994.

He earned his PhD from Columbia University in 1993 and was as an Olin Fellow at Harvard University in 1993-94. His primary teaching and research interests include international security and international relations theory, and he is perhaps best known for his Balance of Interests theory, a revision to Kenneth Waltz's Balance of Power theory and Stephen Walt's Balance of Threat theory. His work on this subject includes: Randall Schweller, "Tripolarity and the Second World War", International Studies Quarterly 37:1 (March 1993) and Randall Schweller, Deadly Imbalances: Tripolarity and Hitler's Strategy of World Conquest (Columbia University Press, 1998).

Often associated with Structural Realists like Kenneth Waltz and Stephen Walt, he may more accurately be portrayed as a Neoclassical Realist (a term coined by Gideon Rose) because of his willingness to consider non-structural explanations of state behavior (other neoclassical realists include Fareed Zakaria, Thomas J. Christensen, and William Wohlforth). For instance: Randall Schweller and David Priess, "A Tale of Two Realisms: Expanding the Institutions Debate," Mershon International Studies Review 41:2 (April 1997)

He is also credited with reemphasizing the distinction between status-quo and revisionist states and incorporating that difference into realist theories of state behavior. Randall Schweller, "Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back in", International Security 19:1 (Summer 1994) and Randall Schweller, "Neorealism's Status-Quo Bias: What Security Dilemma?" Security Studies 5:3 (Spring 1996).

Schweller is an avid guitarist and fronted a cover band of the Grateful Dead named "Timberwolf."

Books

 * Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium (Johns Hopkins University, 2014)
 * Unanswered Threats: Political Constraints on the Balance of Power (Princeton University Press, 2006)
 * Deadly Imbalances: Tripolarity and Hitler’s Strategy of World Conquest (Columbia University Press, 1998)

Articles

 *  "Neorealism’s Power and Restraint: A Tribute to Waltz on his 100th Birthday" Journal Of Global Strategic Studies, (December 2022)
 * “Trump’s Realism,” The H-Diplo/ISSF Policy Series, President Trump and IR Theory (April 2021)
 * “Has Trump’s Foreign Policy Been Successful? A Four-Part Debate,” Pairagraph (October 7, 2020)
 * “Three Cheers for Trump’s Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 97, No. 5 (September/October 2018)
 * Anarchy: Revisiting G. John Ikenberry’s After Victory,” The British Journal of International Relations, Vol. 20, Issue 3 (August 2018).
 * “Opposite but Compatible Nationalisms: A Neoclassical Realist Approach to the Future of US-China Relations,” The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 11, Issue 1 (March 2018)
 * Why Trump Now: A Third-Image Explanation,” in Chaos in the Liberal Order: The Trump Presidency and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century., edited by Robert Jervis, Francis Gavin, Joshua Rovner, and Diane Labrosse (Columbia University Press, 2018)
 * “The Concept of Middle Power,” in Victor D. Cha and Marie Dumond, eds., The Korean Pivot: The Study of South Korea as a Global Power (Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies (July 2017)
 * “The Balance of Power in World Politics,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia, Politics, Oxford University Press (2016)
 * “Rising Powers and Revisionism in Emerging International Orders,” Paper #16, Valdai Institute Publication, Russia (May 2015)
 * “China’s Aspirations and the Clash of Nationalisms in East Asia: A Neoclassical Realist Examination,” International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2 (December 2014)
 * “Weltweiter Unfriede im Zeitalter der Entropie: Weshalb die Vorstellung einer globalen Führungsmacht nicht mehr zeitgemäß ist,” [Worldwide Strife in the Age of Entropy: Why the Idea of a Global Leading Power is No Longer Appropriate], Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, ipg-journal (August 2014)
 * “After Unipolarity: China’s Vision of International Order in an Era of U.S. Decline” International Security, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Summer 2011), co-authored with Xiaoyu Pu
 * “Emerging Powers in the Age of Disorder.” Global Governance, Vol. 17, No. 3 (July-Sept. 2011)
 * “Rational Theory for a Bygone Era,” Security Studies, Vol. 20 (September 2011)
 * “The Future is Uncertain and the End is Always Near,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 24, No. 2 (September 2011)
 * “Knowing the Unknown Unknowns: Misplaced Certainty and the Onset of War,” Security Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan-March 2011), co-authored with Jennifer Mitzen
 * Time's Entropy: The Coming Ennui of World Disorder Security Studies Program Seminar, (October 2010)
 * “The Logic and Illogic of Contemporary Realism,” International Theory, Vol. 2, Issue 3 (December 2010)
 * “Entropy and the Trajectory of World Politics: Why Polarity Has Become Less Meaningful,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2010)
 * “Ennui Becomes Us,” The National Interest, No. 105 (Jan/Feb 2010)
 * "The Progressiveness of Neoclassical Realism," in Colin Elman and Miriam Fendius Elman, eds., Progress in International Relations Theory: Appraising the Field (Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press, 2003).
 * "New Realist Research on Alliances: Refining, Not Refuting, Waltz's Balancing Proposition," reprinted in John Vasquez and Colin Elman, eds., Realism and the Balancing of Power: The New Debate (New York: Prentice Hall, 2003).
 * "Power Test: Updating Realism In Response to the End of the Cold War," Security Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Spring 2000), co-authored with William Wohlforth
 * "U.S. Democracy Promotion: Realist Reflections," in Takashi Inoguchi, G. John Ikenberry, and Michael Cox, eds., American Democracy Promotion: Impulses, Strategies and Impacts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
 * "Managing the Rise of Great Powers: History and Theory," in Alastair Iain Johnston and Robert Ross, eds., Engaging China: Managing a Rising Power (London and New York: Routledge Press, 1999).
 * "Realism and The Present Great-Power System: Growth and Positional Competition Over Scarce Resources," in Ethan Kapstein and Michael Mastanduno, eds., Unipolar Politics: Realism and State Strategies After the Cold War (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999)
 * "Neorealism's Status-Quo Bias: What Security Dilemma?" Security Studies 5:3 (Spring 1996); collected in Benjamin Frankel, ed., Realism: Restatements and Renewal (London and NY: Frank Cass, 1996)
 * "Bandwagoning for Profit: Bringing the Revisionist State Back in", International Security 19:1 (Summer 1994)