However, when looking back from a contemporary vantage point, theorists detected many similarities in the thought patterns and behaviours of the ancient world and the modern world. Thucydides, writing over two thousand years ago, was not a ‘realist’ because IR theory did not exist in named form until the twentieth century.
Realism’s roots are often said to be found in some of humankind’s earliest historical writings, particularly Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War, which raged between 431 and 404 BCE. In the discipline of International Relations (IR), realism is a school of thought that emphasises the competitive and conflictual side of international relations. This is an excerpt from International Relations Theory – an E-IR Foundations beginner’s textbook.
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