The Problem of Causality in International Relations Theories

The question of causality, whether or not it is possible to explain causality in international politics, is one of the most important transnational issues in the field of international relations that has attracted the attention of many scholars and theoretical schools in this field. In this study we attempt to draw a general schema of the controversy and debate of international relations theorists on the cause of causation and to show what spectrum of attitudes and approaches have generally formed in the field of international relations theorizing. To this end, we first present a general framework of transnational themes of international relations, then incorporate various theories into this framework and outline their attitudes towards the issue of causality. This macro framework comprises three types of positivism, post positivism, and anti-positivism. Positivism encompasses mainstream attitudes based on realist ontology and fundamentalist epistemology, post positivism incorporates moderate approaches, and anti positivism refers to radical and postmodern attitudes that are in stark contrast to positivism.