War as a Social Convention

Unlike the Realists, Constructivists believe that war is not an inevitable possibility, but instead is a social convention. They believe that war is socially produced, and doesn’t have to deal with physical survival or military capacity. Constructivists seem to have a more general idea of war that is able to account for all different types of war, including religious and cultural conflicts. However, just like the other theories, it doesn’t really account for war of terrorism. Constructivists believe that the laws of war must be taken into account. When a terrorist group looks to strike a state, the Geneva Convention and other laws of war are not followed like the Constructivists say it will.

Constructivists do say that war and their standards can only be held to actors and that there are not guarantees. It seems as though the Constructivists are just trying to cover their ass by saying that there are no guarantees, which leaves the door open for anyone. It also seems to be a bit of a cop out when they do not theorize about the future, like the other IR theories. Though it does make sense that they don’t theorize about the future because everything is constantly changing, that is not always the answer that people are looking for.