Alexander Wendt in the context of Anarchy in international relations

In international relations theory, the concept of anarchy is the idea that the world lacks any supreme authority or sovereignty. In an anarchic state, there is no hierarchically superior, coercive power that can resolve disputes, enforce law, or order the system of international politics. In international relations, anarchy is widely accepted as the starting point for international relations theory.

International relations generally does not understand "anarchy" as signifying a world in chaos, disorder, or conflict; rather, it is possible for ordered relations between states to be maintained in an anarchic international system. Anarchy provides foundations for realist, neorealist, and neoliberal, and constructivist paradigms of international relations. Liberal theory disputes that anarchy is a fundamental condition of the international system. On the other hand, constructivist scholar Alexander Wendt argued that "anarchy is what states make of it."

"Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics" is a journal article by Alexander Wendt published in International Organization in 1992 that outlines a constructivist approach to international relations theory.

Wendt argues that anarchy is not inherent in the international system in the way in which other schools of international relations theory envision it, but rather it is a construct of the nation-states in the system. At the core of constructivist thought is the idea that many core aspects of international relations are socially constructed (they are given their form by ongoing processes of social practice and interaction), rather than inherent, contrary to the assumptions of neorealism and neoliberalism. According to Wendt, the two basic tenets of constructivism are:

Political science has a long tradition within the United States, and has played a role that has been described as "hegemonic" within the discipline. Individuals from the country have made a disproportionate contribution upon current research. According to a 2014 article by Foreign Policy, almost all present top scholars in international relations possess American citizenship. Influential political scientists from the country include Alexander Wendt, Gene Sharp, John Mearsheimer, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Joseph Nye, Robert Jervis and Kenneth Waltz.