Of the Problems in and the Possibilities for Mapping International Chaos

Abstract

This paper is presented in three parts. Part One reviews recent research in the discipline suggesting that the nature of the international system may be chaotic instead of a much more widely assumed anarchy. Part Two considers one of these drawbacks – the need to include superficially inconsequential actors and interactions in a chaotic theory of international politics – in sharper focus. In a concise but detailed assessment of what has been termed the “problem of interdependence” (Kissane, 2006: 20), this part of the paper outlines precisely why this presents a quandary for chaoticians in the discipline of international relations. In Part Three, however, this paper argues that it is possible to overcome the ‘problem of interdependence’ by first analysing and then adopting techniques from natural sciences that have already encountered and adapted their approaches in integrate chaos. Specifically drawing on meteorology and theoretical physics, this part of the paper suggests two routes by which international relations can theorise a chaotic international system. The paper concludes with the suggestion that a chaotic theory of international relations is potentially one step closer to emerging.

Keywords: chaos, complexity, anarchy, international system, realism