Despite some years in the doldrums, political realism is recovering its previously dominant role as the leading paradigm in the international relations sub-field. Realism’s return to prominence has been accompanied by a surge of new research, and by the development of several distinct variants within the research tradition. The reader will collect centrally important realist works, organized around different approaches (for example, neoclassical realism); important critiques of realism (forexample, the institutionalist critique); and some debates realists and their critics have engaged in concerning recent events (for example, whether different realist theories can account for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.) The reader will be structured around a 16 week semester. An alternative timetable and chapter combination will be provided for classes following the quarter system. Offering substantial commentary and analysis and including enhanced pedagogy to facilitate student learning, The Realism Reader will provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for undergraduates and masters students taking a course in contemporary international relations theory, with a particular focus on realism.