Rethinking “Revisionism” in International Relations

Abstract

This article seeks to rethink the concept of "revisionism" from the perspective of International Relations scholarship developed in the global periphery. To do so, it reviews the mainstream literature on statu quo and revisionist states and reassesses these contributions through the analytical lenses of power-maximizing and defensive-positionalist logics. The article then reinterprets these categories through the concept of the vertical dimension of power, examining how interests associated with the statu quo and revisionism manifest themselves among peripheral or less powerful states in the international system.