Uneven development and the logics of international order formation : a critical analysis of recent theories of order formation within the modern western states-system

Abstract

The thesis provides a critical, comparative analysis of some important, recent theoretical approaches to the study of international relations in terms of their distinctive explanations of the process of order formation characterising the modern western states-system. Drawing upon the critical resources offered by Ashley's typology of different knowledge-constitutive interests orienting different forms of theoretical inquiry, the thesis distinguishes the contrasting conceptions of this modern process of international order formation presented in the work of representative thinkers of the Neo-Realist, Rationalist and Critical theoretical perspectives, noting the different methodological approaches informing these models. At the same time, the thesis provides a critical assessment of these different theories in terms of their relative adequacy as a means for understanding the general nature and significance of this modern process of order formation considered, in broadest terms, as the expression of the uneven development of power between modern states. A central aim of the thesis argument in this context, is to indicate how the elaboration of this critical comparative analysis raises the possibility for the development of a more sophisticated theoretical model - a synthetic perspective which draws upon the valuable insights provided by the Neo-Realist, Rationalist and Critical approaches as the basis for the articulation of a more adequate understanding of the nature and implications of the process of order formation within the modern western international system.