Mind the gap between nationalism and international relations: Power and the nation-state in E.H. Carr’s realism

The aim of this article is to expand on the work done in recent literature which dispelled the simplistic notion that realism is to be identified with state-centrism and that the nation-state represents a sort of static ‘unit’ in the international system. I explore the connection between Carr’s formulation of power and the way he approached the nation-state and nationalism. From such a discussion the nation-state emerges as an unfixed and historically conditioned entity whose development follows changes at the domain of power. Carr’s particularly flexible conceptualisation of power with its military, economic and ideational facet allows for a better understanding of the development of the nation-state and nationalism. This account can contribute both to the re-discovery of classical realism and offers a good starting point for efforts to bridge international relations and sociological accounts of nationalism.