Three Dialogic Imperatives in International Relations Scholarship: A Buberian Programme

Abstract

With reference to Martin Buber’s dialogical philosophy, the article identifies three dialogic imperatives that burden IR scholars. The first imperative is internal to the scholar. It is the intrapersonal imperative to conduct a dialogue with and in herself/himself. The second dialogic imperative is the interpersonal dialogue, which helps to establish a community of scholars. The third dialogic imperative is external to the community of scholars. It is the obligation to dialogically engage with the public to which the scholars belong. It will be shown that the third dialogic imperative is also a dialogic imperative to engage with truth about the public, that is, with social reality. I will end the article with a brief discussion on the Buberian dialogue within the context of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict.