Institutional selection in international relations: state anarchy as order

1994 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Spruyt
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
International System ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
Predominant Type ◽  
Territorial Organization ◽  
City States ◽  
Territorial States

By the end of the medieval era, three new competing institutions attempted to capture gains from trade and reduce feudal particularism: sovereign territorial states, cityleagues, and city-states. By the middle of the seventeenth century, city-leagues and city-states had declined markedly. Territorial states survived as the dominant form because they were able to reduce free riding, lower transaction costs, and credibly commit their constituents. The selection process took place along three dimensions. First, sovereign territorial states proved competitively superior in the economic realm. Second, states increasingly recognized only other sovereign territorial states as legitimate actors in the international system. Third, other actors defected to or copied the institutional makeup of sovereign territorial organization. The emergence of discrete territorial units in which only sovereign authorities represented their citizens as the predominant type of organization in international affairs created a new solution to the problem of markets and hierarchies.

Historical Institutionalism in International Relations

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orfeo Fioretos
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Political Development ◽  
International System ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Research Agendas ◽  
New Research ◽  
State Preferences

AbstractThis article reviews recent contributions to International Relations (IR) that engage the substantive concerns of historical institutionalism and explicitly and implicitly employ that tradition's analytical features to address fundamental questions in the study of international affairs. It explores the promise of this tradition for new research agendas in the study of international political development, including the origin of state preferences, the nature of governance gaps, and the nature of change and continuity in the international system. The article concludes that the analytical and substantive profiles of historical institutionalism can further disciplinary maturation in IR, and it proposes that the field be more open to the tripartite division of institutional theories found in other subfields of Political Science.

scholarly journals The Biden Administration: An Opportunity to Affirm a Flexible and Adaptive American World Leadership

World Affairs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 184 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-150
Author(s):  
Tanguy Struye de Swielande
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
The United States ◽  
English School ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
International Leadership ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Strategic Design ◽  
The Many ◽  
Trump Administration

The article develops a strategic framework to redefine American international leadership under the Biden administration. While the decline of the American-led order is not a new trend, it has been accelerated under the Trump administration, which focused on domestic policies and left the global stage in disarray. The challenges are many for the new president, and many pressures can already be felt. Biden’s administration is under high expectations to stabilize the international system and deal with the many issues that the world faces: economic recovery, COVID-19, climate change, cybersecurity, and relations with China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, to name but a few. Yet, while the Biden presidency is—wrongly—understood as “U.S. back to normal,” the international stage has evolved. The article thus argues that restoring American world leadership means modifying that leadership and adapting it to the new reality. Building on management theories and the English School of international relations theories, the research presents a theoretical framework for reinventing and reconstructing a new form of leadership. It then applies the resulting strategic design to the Biden administration’s objectives and policies in the form of seven strategic recommendations. Ultimately, the article explains how the United States can remain world leader by acknowledging the current global situation and adopting a pragmatic vision of international affairs.

scholarly journals Developing a Systems Architecture Model to Study the Science, Technology and Innovation in International Studies

Systems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Francisco Del Canto Viterale
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Systems Architecture ◽  
Architecture Model ◽  
Technology And Innovation ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
The World ◽  
Science Technology And Innovation

The international system has changed rapidly in the last thirty years and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) has become a new critical factor of the world order of the 21st century. The interaction between STI and international affairs has increased, as well as its social and academic interest; however, there is still a lack of new theoretical and methodological approaches that examine this global rising phenomenon. This article is predominantly epistemological and is about how interactions between STI and international relations can be methodologically examined using systems models. This article raises the need for systems science approaches to explaining complex problems in international relations. In this sense, systems science and specifically systemism, offers great potential to study complex issues within a complex social system like the international order. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to develop an original systems framework that provides a comprehensive tool for studying complex topics like STI in the world system. The result is the creation of a Systems Architecture Model that examines the interaction between STI and international affairs from a systemist perspective.

‘A presumption of trust’ in international society

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 634-641
Author(s):  
Nicholas J Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Society ◽  
International System ◽  
World Politics ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Moral Philosopher ◽  
Security Community ◽  
Moral Skepticism ◽  
Community Theory ◽  
The Relationship

This article reflects on Nicholas J. Rengger’s 1997 article in International Affairs on ‘The ethics of trust in world politics’. The article has received comparably little attention, which is a shame because as I explore in my contribution it remains two decades on a highly important intervention in the on-going debate over the possibilities for developing and sustaining trust in an anarchic international system. Rengger argued that international cooperation, and the idea of international society it rests on, cannot be sustained in the absence of what he called ‘a presumption of trust’. However, he viewed this presumption in late modernity as an increasingly fragile one, and whilst he offered some ways to shore up the crumbling foundation of trust, his moral skepticism as to the possibilities of realising this run through his thinking. Rengger’s concern was that as the practices that ‘ground’ trust erode, cooperation will come to depend solely on rational egoist, interest-based calculations, and that such a basis is unstable and prone to breakdown. The problem that Rengger identified of how to ground authoritative practices of trust in international society remains an urgent one at a time when great power relations are characterised by increasing distrust. Having engaged with some of his key arguments in the article, I end by briefly identifying three problems that his essay would have benefited from considering further. These are (1) the relationship between trust and trustworthiness; (2) the neglect of security community theory; and (3) the potential of ‘godparenting’ (a concept Rengger borrows and develops from the moral philosopher Annette Baier) in international relations.

The state and the nation: changing norms and the rules of sovereignty in international relations

1994 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Samuel Barkin ◽  
Bruce Cronin
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
The State ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Legitimate Authority ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Constitutive Rule ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Definition Of

The international relations literature regularly embraces sovereignty as the primary constitutive rule of international organization. Theoretical traditions that agree on little else all seem to concur that the defining feature of the modern international system is the division of the world into sovereign states. Despite differences over the role of the state in international affairs, most scholars would accept John Ruggie's definition of sovereignty as “the institutionalization of public authority within mutually exclusive jurisdictional domains.” Regardless of the theoretical approach however, the concept tends to be viewed as a static, fixed concept: a set of ideas that underlies international relations but is not changed along with them. Moreover, the essence of sovereignty is rarely defined; while legitimate authority and territoriality are the key concepts in understanding sovereignty, international relations scholars rarely examine how definitions of populations and territories change through-out history and how this change alters the notion of legitimate authority.

scholarly journals Revisiting the Evolution of International System: Reflections on the Role of Religion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarwar J. Minar
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
City States ◽  
Social Entities ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
The City

Religion has been significant in human life since the day of human creation and since then played important role throughout various phrases of the world history. The paper investigates the role of religion in the development of International System. In tracing out the role of religion, the paper uses a qualitative research method. Though an interpretive approach, the paper explores the role of religion from the very beginning moment of creation of earth and human being, throughout various historical development phrases. The paper finds that religion has historically played a significant role in human life, in the organization of the social entities, and therefore in the relations among them. The paper finds immense influence of religion in prehistoric societies, in the pre-Westphalian system, in the city states and empires. However, in the Westphalian era religion was left aside and secularism took the place but was not excluded entirely. In the present era religion has again emerged as an influential force in the world affairs. Presenting an evaluation ofreligion‘s role in the 21st century international system, the paper concludes attempting to integrate religion into the theories of International Relations.

Political Learning and Socialization

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Thies
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Political Socialization ◽  
International System ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Political Learning ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Multiple Levels

Political Learning and Political Socialization are two concepts in international relations and foreign policy that attempt to get at the cognitive and social dynamics present in the international system. Both concepts require interplay across multiple levels of analysis and a focus on agency inherent in different types of actors. Both have involved the importation of theory from other disciplines, including psychology, sociology, social psychology, and others. Yet, as with all theoretical imports, scholars of international relations have adapted them to their subject matter, albeit imperfectly at times. This article provides a general overview of past and current developments in the application of political learning and political socialization to international affairs.

Between anarchy and tyranny: excellence and the pursuit of power and peace in ancient Greece

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 91-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Kokaz
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Peloponnesian War ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
City States

Ancient Greece is not unfamiliar to International Relations scholars. Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War has been especially influential in shaping our understanding of the ancient Greek international system, not only because it is the best historical source available, but also in light of the status it has achieved as the foremost classic of International Relations. Of particular interest to International Relations have been questions concerning the character of the system and the units within it, and how these have affected the dynamics of conflict and co-operation in the international arena. Many find the antecedents of the modern European states-system in the pattern of relations that emerged between the independent city-states of Hellas roughly between the eighth and fourth centuries BC. Like our contemporary international system, the ancient Greek international system was anarchic in the sense that it lacked an overarching common government.

scholarly journals Reflections of International Relations theories in selected TV series distributed by Netflix

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 59-76
Author(s):  
Alexandra Madarászová ◽  
Michaela Zemanová
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
International System ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Mass Entertainment

This article demonstrates how Netflix, the current leading SVOD provider, can be a plat­form of global cultural exchange, which not only provides entertainment, but also offers a critical reflection on international affairs to its subscribers. Despite the fact that most Netflix content is fic­tional, its distributed and produced films and TV series still portray various theoretical approaches of international relations. This claim is based on the premises of critical discourse, which see our reality in terms of the social context.The aim of the article is to reveal what principles of main international relations theories (name­ly realism, liberalism, feminism, constructivism, or other critical theories) can Netflix subscribers find in the selected TV series. Using a visual qualitative analysis as a research method, the authors study five TV series, specifically Traitors (UK), 1983 (PL), Nobel (NOR), Pine Gap (AU) and Homeland (US). These TV series were selected with regard to their diverse origins of production, the topic’s central focus being politics, security or international relations, and their high ratings and numbers of viewers.The analysis of each TV series is based on answering three questions, which are used in defining basic premises of the portrayed theories. The following questions are: What role does the state play as an actor in the international system? What is the dominant cultural identity of the society? What is the status of an individual in a country? Processes of forming opinions and building images of social reality are influenced by the context in which the individual acts. As such, cultural exchange can influence the evolution of contemporary media society and thus affect viewers who are indirectly led to critical reflection. The results indicate that the global cultural exchange through the medium of mass entertainment is still driven mainly by traditional theoretical premises.

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