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Four questions are presented in an effort to illustrate the fundamental problems associated with "top-down" & "bottom-up" approaches to evolutionary international relations theory: (1) Which units evolve? (2) Are political actors influenced by, & do they themselves influence, the political environment? (3) In what ways does the environment serve as a means for selection? (4) Should the direction of evolutionary change be ordered? Though absolute answers are not offered, a strategy is proposed wherein paradigmatic questions are broken down into "core" & "noncore" elements. Elements within these cores are individually affected by evolutionary principles & are altered as they come to operate & function as individual units of analysis. Environmental selection is one example of this phenomenon. This strategy should be viewed as laying the groundwork for further debate & discussion concerning the evolutionary study of global politics. 16 References. K. Larsen

AbstractWhat is international legitimacy and whence does it stem? What entities seek it and why, and who grants or withholds it? How might the different meanings of the concept be reconciled? This article argues that Family Resemblance Concept (FRC) methods are particularly well-suited to explicating the complex meanings associated with this multidimensional concept. We start with a basic level definition based on subjective perceptions and beliefs, the normative quality of oughtness, and the idea of consent. We then expand this definition by developing several secondary-level dimensions: shared values, constitutionalism (consisting of two forms of process legitimacy), and outcome legitimacy. At the indicator level, we examine 14 different survey questions asked in international public opinion polls to provide a tentative empirical glimpse of how our FRC version of legitimacy could be operationalised and tested. The paper concludes with a discussion of the usefulness of the FRC scheme in imposing some order on the legitimacy concept and in illuminating the recent legitimacy problems afflicting the United States.

China's rising status in the global economy alongside recent economic stagnation in Europe and the United States has led to considerable speculation that we are in the early stages of a transition in power relations. Commentators have tended to treat this transitional period as a novelty, but history is in fact replete with such systemic transitions-sometimes with perilous results. Can we predict the future by using the past? And, if so, what might history teach us?With Transition Scenarios, David P. Rapkin and William R. Thompson identify some predictors for pow

China's rising status in the global economy alongside recent economic stagnation in Europe and the United States has led to considerable speculation that we are in the early stages of a transition in power relations. Commentators have tended to treat this transitional period as a novelty, but history is in fact replete with such systemic transitions-sometimes with perilous results. Can we predict the future by using the past? And, if so, what might history teach us?With Transition Scenarios, David P. Rapkin and William R. Thompson identify some predictors for pow.