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Critical Analysis of Social Constructivism: Myth or Reality for Peace and Security Vol. V, No. I (Winter 2020) 15 substance i.e. water [Thales] and atom [Democritus]. Pythagoras followed this intellectual tradition and he defined the Universe, in terms of its structure and form. Socrates shifted the trend of the philosophy from universe to human ambiance and he focused on human virtue, knowledge and ignorance. Plato further explained knowledge and held that worldly knowledge is nothing but an image and shadow. Aristotle further elaborated the philosophical understanding about knowledge and he connected true knowledge with sense perception and experience. These ideas gave birth to metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, logic, reasoning, natural science, morality, ethics, and political philosophy. These thoughts then gave birth to two schools of thoughts i.e. Platonists and Aristotelians that served as the foundations on which modern idealism (liberalism) and realism essentially rest. Theories contain conjectural, understandable and generalized assumptions, which explain questions like “how” and “why”, in terms of predicting and explaining national/international changes, behaviours, attitudes, wars, economic & strategic competitions, and propensities& shaping of the international community (Mansbach & Taylor, 2012, p.3). Theories explain, describe, and predict the events and changes we encounter at national, regional and international levels. They explain the causes of clashes, competitions, cooperation, and prophesize the futurity (Viotti & Kauppi, 2013, p.26). Theories are those devices, which show us “which facts matter and which do not” (Lamy, Masker, Baylis, Smith & Owens, 2017, p.13). Social Constructivism however questions the assumptions of all the theories and labels them as ideas, which have socially constructed the perceptions and conceptions of the people and hence, people believe them and they act upon them accordingly. Social Constructivists argue, theories shape social norms, “changing social norms” shape identities, identities shape perceptions and perceptions shape the behaviours& actions of the people (Mansbach & Taylor, 2012, p. 22). They further argue that a continuous process of pursuing interests shape identities, hence, identities are dynamic and learned rather than innate and static. Realists and Liberals, on the other hand assume that both the identities and interests are innate and unchangeable (Mansbach & Taylor, 2012). States don’t change their identities and interests; they rather shift their dynamics and narrow down them in their own favour. The United States is the member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, nonetheless, both its identity and interests are American and nor European. The European is not a collective identity for the member states. It is rather a common platform on different identities, different nationalities, different interests and different countries. Neo-realists argue that identity and behaviours are driven by the ambience in which actors are positioned. Constructivists argue that identity is not static but is subject to progressive change (Blanton& Kegley, 2016). This analytical paper discusses the core assumptions of realism and liberalism and the counter-assumptions of social constructivism. Social Constructivism Constructivists consider identity as an ideational construction, rather than “material or geographical” (Nau, 2019, p136). They argue that interests shape identities, identities shape Nazim Rahim and Asghar Ali 16 Global Strategic & Security Studies Review (GSSSR) perceptions, and perceptions shape behaviours& actions of the people. Constructivists believe that collective knowledge, which the participants construct through various sources of communication, gives birth to collective identities. Participants develop collective identities en masse, (i) to convince and persuade each other and(ii) to learn from each other. These collective identities explain the participants and tailor their behaviours. Constructivists argue that “International Anarchy is what states make of it”, hence it is not “a fixed material condition” (Nau, 2019, p127-128). Constructivists put that “ideas, beliefs and values” have the power to control the interests and identities of the states and the resultant makeover of the international system. States make rules, which on one hand identify the key players and on the other hand, they support the interests of those key players. States themselves make ideas, rules, and institutions. They deal the international anarchy according to their particular discernment and understanding. Constructivists consider, factors like “shared rules, practices, meanings, identities, and norms” as the level of analysis, because these factors affect the behaviours of the states and fulfil their interests (Lamy et al., 2017, p106-108).