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suggestive of implications for the ‘revisionist/status quo’ debate. However, what theforeign policy conduct of South Africa and Brazil has highlighted is that challengingthe status quo of international politics is far more a political than a military, oreconomic, exercise. As Hurrell has noted, “What counts as ‘status quo’ or‘revisionist’ is itself politically contested”. 723 It is no longer prudent to ascribe statusquo characteristics to the dominant states in the system. The behaviour of somesecond-tier states, which often seeks to strengthen international proceduralmachinery, has often in recent years been automatically construed as opposed toWestern interests. Meanwhile, little discussion is entertained regarding how Westerninterests, often in pursuit of solidarist internationalist goals, such as human rightsand democracy-promotion, exert pressure on the founding norms of internationallife, Westphalian principles of non-intervention, for example.As others have noted, while Neorealism ascribes theoretical prominence to thesystem in determining state motivations, it does not provide much guidance onwhether states will be revisionist or status quo states. 724 While, in terms ofNeorealism, we can be certain that states are motivated by the goal of survival underanarchy, we cannot know which actions this motivation prompts them to take. Fora more comprehensive understanding, it is necessary to examine state-levelcharacteristics and motivations. Internationalism is a mediating influence on foreignpolicy calculations, to the extent that national leadership is able to mobilise andextract national resources for foreign policy. Internationalism provides importantideational frameworks through which decision makers view their capabilities andresponsibilities in international life.723 Andrew Hurrell, “Emerging Powers, Global Order and Global Justice”, Institute forInternational Law and Justice, NYU Law School, Spring Colloquium, 2010.724 Sten Rynning and Jens Ringsmose, “Why are Revisionist States Revisionist?Reviving Classical Realism as an Approach to Understanding International Change”,International Politics, 45 (2008).299