Suchergebnisse

International Cooperation Against All Odds: The Ultrasocial World recasts how we understand international relations through an examination of how the human evolutionary predisposition to be "ultrasocial" as a species impacts which political ideas succeed, transform, manipulate, and inspire on a global scale. At a time when pessimism about our current world order is at an all-time high, this book overturns widespread assumptions that international relations is mainly about conflict, power, and national self-interest. In the last 10-20 years, scientists have discovered that as a species, we are biologically hard-wired, soft-wired, and pre-wired to be other-regarding and cooperative. Humans are an ultrasocial species, and yet this predisposition is completely ignored in governments across the world. Political leaders, experts, and the media have cultivated a myopic vision of global conflict, feeding an obsession on crises of the moment, rather than recognizing frequent and significant breakthroughs in peaceful cooperation and overall trends in the decline of violence. This book shows how time and time again our ultrasocial predisposition has pushed us towards big ideas that inspire and bring us together around the power of possibility. Featuring original research on international cooperation in outer-space exploration, European Union integration, nuclear weapons, and climate change, among other examples, Mai'a K. Davis Cross shows ultrasociality at work in a range of contexts. Tracing the path from social neuroscience and evolutionary biology (among others) to the power of ideas to international agreements, International Cooperation Against All Odds opens up an entirely new understanding of world politics. If we recognize our nature as a species and the potential we have to work together, we can start to transform institutions, and devise policies that take advantage of this. The book ends with a roadmap to promote more international cooperation, and eventually, a more stable, peaceful world order.

Introduction -- Why do epistemic communities matter? -- Toward European security integration -- Diplomats and internal security -- Diplomats and external security -- The military community -- Loose and nascent communities

The European Defence Agency (EDA) was founded in 2004 with the aim of improving the EU's defence capabilities through promoting collaboration, common initiatives, and innovative solutions to the EU's security needs. This article examines the nature of the relationship between European Union Member States and the EDA a decade after its founding. The agency has solidified a clear body of norms that it seeks Member States to implement. To a surprising extent, Member States have publically embraced these norms as necessary for the future viability of European security. But they at the same time resist implementing these norms in certain fundamental ways. Building upon the framework article of this special issue, the author applies the concepts of 'public' and 'hidden' transcripts to shed light on how Member States simultaneously embrace and resist norms in a climate of supranational pressure. Adapted from the source document.