How did World War II shape the academic study of international relations?

World War II served as a major turning point for the academic study of international relations, fundamentally shifting the field's focus and methodology.1

The Rise of Realism

The failure of the League of Nations and the onset of the war led to a widespread rejection of the moral idealism that had dominated interwar scholarship. Critics argued that such idealism was impractical and ignored the harsh realities of power politics. In the postwar period, realism emerged as the dominant theoretical framework, popularized by works such as Hans J. Morgenthau’s Politics Among Nations (1948). Realists emphasized that states operate in an anarchic system, driven by national interest and the struggle for power.12

New Research Agendas

The war also stimulated systematic social-scientific investigation, as governments enlisted scholars for intelligence and wartime planning. Postwar scholarship expanded to address:1
* Security and Deterrence: The advent of nuclear weapons necessitated new theories on deterrence and strategic stability.1
* Area Studies: As the Cold War intensified, the U.S. government funded area studies to better understand the cultures, politics, and economies of regions like the Soviet Union and China.2
* Global Complexity: Scholars began examining international integration, foreign-policy decision-making, and the dynamics of newly independent states.1