Drawing on evolutionary epistemology, process ontology, and a social-cognition approach, this book suggests cognitive evolution, an evolutionary-constructivist social and normative theory of change and stability of international social orders. It argues that practices and their background knowledge survive preferentially, communities of practice serve as their vehicle, and social orders evolve. As an evolutionary theory of world ordering, which does not borrow from the natural sciences, it...

In Emanuel Adler's distinctive constructivist approach to international relations theory, international practices evolve in tandem with collective knowledge of the material and social worlds. This book - comprising a fresh selection of his journal publications, a substantial new introduction, three previously unpublished articles - points IR constructivism in a novel direction, characterized as 'communitarian'. Adler's synthesis does not herald the end of the nation-state; nor does it sugg...

This book is one of the first to systematically examine the debate about global order in International Relations from an ecological perspective.Bringing together an international team of expert contributors, chapters offer a well-rounded exploration of the ecological view on world order from a diverse mix of cultural and theoretical backgrounds. The book provides a nuanced understanding of the social structures underlying specific world political challenges and offers valuable insi...

Recent efforts by the United States and its allies to promote democracy, security, and stability in the Middle East owe much to the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) – also known as the Barcelona Process – an important region-building plan in the Mediterranean region since 1995. The Convergence of Civilizations represents the output of an innovative and much needed collaborative project focused on the EMP. Editors Emanuel Adler, Beverly Crawford, Federica Bicchi, and Rafaella A...

It is in and through practices – deeds that embody shared intersubjective knowledge – that social life is organized, that subjectivities are constituted and that history unfolds. One can think of dozens of different practices (from balancing, to banking or networking) which constitute the social fabric of world politics. This book brings together leading scholars in fields from international law and humanitarianism to nuclear deterrence and the UN to provide effective new tools to understa...

Since independence, Israel has lived with a paradox, needing and seeking legitimacy, understanding, and empathy from the world community while simultaneously also discounting the world. This volume reflects upon Israel’s troubled attempts to balance its desire to be different from a world that it simultaneously genuinely needs and that it also wants to be a legitimate member of.Gathering distinguished scholars and public figures, this timely book discusses the causes and consequenc...