Congratulations to Federmán Rodríguez on completing his PhD dissertation, entitled “Why Different Powers Behave Similarly: A Neoclassical Realist Approach to American and Canadian Engagements in Afghanistan (2001-2014).” His thesis sought to unravel a strategic puzzle: why and how the United States and Canada adopted similar engagement levels, especially similar counterinsurgency strategies between 2005/2006 and 2011. According to structural realism as a dominant IR theory, the similarity of American and Canadian engagements constitutes a puzzle because this theory would expect that countries with different relative standings in the international system are meant to adopt different foreign and security policies.
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To unravel this puzzle, this dissertation used neoclassical realism. Like a realist theory, it examines the effects of relative material capabilities on foreign policy. Yet, unlike structural realism, it considers dimensions other than states’ relative standing, such as perceptions and domestic politics, which help to unpack the puzzle above. Based on this theory, the central argument of this dissertation was that the similarity of American and Canadian engagements resulted from similar systemic stimuli from the post-9/11 strategic environment, foreign policy executives’ similar strategic beliefs, and comparable abilities to mobilize domestic resources.
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Federmán is an assistant professor of the Faculty of International Relations, Political and Urban Studies at Rosario University (Bogotá, Colombia).