In the next post in this series attempting to explain International Relations (IR) theory through football I will be looking at the similarities between the international political economy theory of economic nationalism, also known as mercantilism, and the history of Athletic Bilbao. Mercantilism was how the emerging nation-states of fifteenth century managed their trade and inter-state relations,…
Category: Sport & IR Theory
Explaining sport through IR theory; or explaining IR theory through sport; or complicating both.
Football & the Statistical Revolution
As Bill Shankly told us, ‘Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.’ I have been wondering what the great man would make of the number-led revolution that is sweeping through football. Instead…
Realism, Idealism and Arsene Wenger
This is the fourth in a series of posts attempting to explain football through international relations theory; or international relations theory through football; or drawing tenuous links between both. The differences between Realist and Idealist international relations theory is rather misleadingly known as the first ‘Great Debate’. No actual ‘debate’ took place, and the Idealists…
Against modern football? Blame liberal economics.
This is the third in a series of posts attempting to explain football through international relations theory; or international relations theory through football; or drawing tenuous links between both. Antonio Gramsci once wrote that football is the model of individualistic society. Within a game or a team there is a place for individual expression or…
Thucydides & the transfer window
This is the second in a series of posts attempting to explain football through international relations theory; or international relations theory through football; or drawing tenuous links between both. Why Arsenal will sell Fabregas, and why Manchester United signed Phil Jones. Thinking about Thucydides and the Melian Dialogue, the most (in)famous passage in his most…
Machiavelli & Mourinho
This is the first in a series of posts attempting to explain football through international relations theory; or international relations theory through football; or drawing tenuous links between both. Jorge Valdano may have left Real Madrid but Jose Mourinho will continue to provoke his employers and opponents, and succeed. I am not so convinced that…
In Sun and Shadow 