Stability, Turbulence, Chaos?: Systems Analogies and Metaphors, and Change in Contemporary World Politics

Abstract

The early cybernetic ideas suitable in describing the bipolar world do not seem very useful in exploring changes in the contemporary international system. Modern ‘systems thinking’ has, however, yielded other concepts. Chaos theory, non- equilibrium thermodynamics, catastrophe theory, autopoiesis and self-organization theory, synergetics, etc., appear to be useful for international studies not as sources of mathematical models but mainly as sources of analogies and metaphors. It is connected with increasing interest in applications of ‘post’-structural, -modernist, -rationalist, approaches in international relations studies. The main aim of the paper is to examine what are the advantages and disadvantages of applications of analogies and metaphors based on systems thinking in describing and explaining change and status quo in the post Cold War international system. As it is always the case for interdisciplinary research, in international relations studies, and generally in social sciences, numerous errors are made in applying those new terms. Therefore it is necessary to present the ways how analogies and metaphors associated with ‘systems language’ can support studies of dynamics of international systems, or generally speaking, social systems.