Classical Realism, Status, and Emotions: Understanding the Canada/Saudi Arabia Dispute and Its Implications for Global Politics

Abstract

This article draws on classical realism, status theory, and research on emotions to explain the Canada/Saudi Arabia diplomatic dispute (2018–) and its implications for global politics. These non-great powers should not be engaging in a protracted conflict according to most international relations (IR) theory. The article argues that status, in the form of political “struggle” over whose identity should be considered socially superior, is a necessary condition for the dispute and the principal reason why Canada and Saudi Arabia have not reconciled. Reflecting recent trajectories in IR and the renewed interest in classical realism, the article seeks to recover the full scope of classical realism’s human nature aspect, broad definition of “interest,” and openness to emotion. Its classical realism–status–emotions theory offers a fuller explanation of the dispute than neoclassical realism and constructivism, the most cognate rival approaches. Utilizing the process tracing method, the article distills its status–emotions model into a three-part status–emotions “mechanism” for use in the case study section.