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Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867614033459281920 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Kesson, Craig John |
| author2 | Fourie, Pieter |
| author_browse | Fourie, Pieter Kesson, Craig John |
| author_facet | Fourie, Pieter Kesson, Craig John |
| author_sort | Kesson, Craig John |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/136174 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:45:36.533Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/136174 Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory Kesson, Craig John Fourie, Pieter Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science. Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Kesson, C. J. 2026. Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/be58b5f6-824a-4157-ba13-26454fb0b6e7 Neorealism, a branch of the Realist School in international Relations, understands the international system to be an unchangeably anarchic place that compels actors within it to find balance in relation to each other by using their power to ensure their own security. The ‘neo’ variant of the theory emerged at the height of the Cold War and was developed within the framework of global bipolarity. In the ensuing decades the Cold War ended, but a new rivalry has emerged between the USA and China, and contemporary international relations have been framed in strongly Realist terms once more in the 2020s with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Given the emergence of strong Realist debate in the scholarly domain, it seems appropriate to update Neorealism for the new era of Great Power competition. Since the period of Neorealism’s first emergence in the 1970s, there has been growing recognition of the power of global cities in international relations. Cities in general have become an emergent field of study in International Relations, especially in terms of paradiplomacy and the impact of city issues in global discourses and strategic policy debates. While there has been this recognition in the broader field of International Relations, Neorealism itself has not taken into account the impact of cities on its body of theory. As such, it remains analytically confined to its traditional state-centric lens. This research challenges the exclusivity of the state as a Neorealist unit of analysis, without discounting its continued relevance as well as offering a more nuanced and complex view of the levers of power that Neorealism has traditionally focused on. It considers Neorealism in the context of Realism as a whole, and locates its development in conceptual and social terms, understanding how the view of the state and forms of power emerged as well as testing where there is epistemic space to adapt and develop these views further. It offers an analysis of theoretical developments and changes using the tools developed by Lakatos and Kuhn, and synthesized by way of Feyerabend, borrowed from the philosophy of science. Lakatos provides the framing to consider the logical development of the hard and soft cores of research programmes, which fits well with the epistemic rationality of Neorealism. Kuhn provides conceptual devices for understanding the social development of Neorealism as way of addressing puzzles within the Realist paradigm. Further modes of reasoning are also deployed from Critical Theory and Constructivism. These implements of theoretical development are then applied to the unique typology of the Global City, which is examined in the light of its attributes and in the context of the city as an object of study within the field of International Relations. Sample Global Cities from the USA and China are explored in the context of the new epistemic space opened by the development of the research’s Cityscaping model and tested for theoretical rigour and applicability using a sequence of representative scenarios. In so doing, the research extends the theoretical frame of reference of Neorealism and updates its heuristic for the new era of Great Power competition between the USA and China, one that understands and uses the role of global cities for greater methodological and analytical rigour. Doctoral 2026-04-24T08:17:24Z 2026-04-24T08:17:24Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/136174 en Stellenbosch University 320 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Kesson, Craig John Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory |
| title | Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory |
| title_full | Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory |
| title_fullStr | Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory |
| title_short | Cities in Great Power Competition: Towards a development of the Neorealist Paradigm in International Relations Theory |
| title_sort | cities in great power competition towards a development of the neorealist paradigm in international relations theory |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/136174 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kessoncraigjohn citiesingreatpowercompetitiontowardsadevelopmentoftheneorealistparadigmininternationalrelationstheory |