Complex systems theories and eclectic approach in analysing and theorising the contemporary international security complex

Abstract

This chapter has a dual purpose: first, it is intended to demonstrate the need and usefulness of Complex systems theories and, in this context, what we call an “Eclectic Approach” for analysing and theorising about International Relations and security; second, it aims to characterise the contemporary international security system. We also develop two basic arguments: that the reality is too complex, heterogeneous and varied to fit into theories that purport to interpret exclusively in the light of its previous cognitive structures; and that the contemporary international security system is a complex of international security systems – competitive, cooperative, collective, and security communities.