Abstract
This chapter discusses the sociocultural evolution of relations among human polities, especially focusing on warfare and imperialism, but also taking account of the emergence of cultural agreements and institutions that facilitate intergroup cooperation. The comparative evolutionary world-systems perspective analyzes the spatial bounding of whole human interaction networks. The comparative and evolutionary world-systems perspective applies an anthropological framework of comparison for studying world-systems, including those of hunter-gatherers. The evolution of geopolitics is due to changes in the character of the interacting polities as well as changes in the nature of their interaction. World history and global history are the most important evidential bases, along with prehistoric archaeology, for the comparative study of world-systems. All world-systems, small and large, exhibit some similar patterns of interaction regarding conflict and cooperation among autonomous polities. But there have also been qualitative transformations as these networks, and the polities within them, grew more complex and larger.
Published Version
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