Researcher: Dr Andrew Phillips
What are international orders, how have they been historically transformed, and how can they be defended in the face of violent challenges to their integrity? These are the three questions that drive this study. Realist international relations scholars have long conceived of international relations as a realm of necessity, in which violent competition is endemic, and where military and economic resources provide the primary currency of power. Constructivists have conversely contended that international relations is defined as much by cooperation as it is by conflict, and have argued further that the maintenance of international order cannot be understood without reference to the role of norms and ideas in helping to constitute shared authoritative institutions such as international law. This study offers the first book-length effort to synthesize insights from realism and constructivism in accounting for international orders’ constitution and transformation. Considering the evolution of international orders in Europe, East Asia, and the Islamic world from the Protestant Reformation to the contemporary ‘war on terror’, I demonstrate that international orders have historically been maintained through reliance on both authoritative institutions as well as on practices of legitimate organized violence. Additionally, I also demonstrate that international orders have been destroyed as a result of concatenating catastrophes involving ideological schisms, the collapse of empires, and the emergence of disruptive military innovations. This study offers important new insights on the nature of international order, which will be of interest not only to international relations scholars, but also to all who are concerned with the challenges that the international community will need to surmount if order and liberty are to be preserved in the coming century.