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Evolution in International Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 February 2025

Jeremy Garlick
Affiliation:
Prague University of Economics and Business

Summary

Scholars of international relations (IR) and evolution pay little attention to each other's fields. However, there is a need to examine evolution's impacts in IR. International actors such as nations are made up of people, so evolved human nature has an impact on relations within and between states. Accordingly, this pathbreaking Element will attempt to apply insights from evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and archaeogenetics to IR. Among such insights are the evolved role of emotions in decision-making, intergroup competition as a driver of in-group cooperation, and culture, morality, and language as group-binding mechanisms. Homo sapiens is a primate, so comparison with the behaviours of other great apes reveals some commonalities in terms of group dynamics, status, and hierarchies, as well as the enduring human capacity for both in-group cooperation and organised violence against other groups. These have an evolutionary basis that is relevant to IR theory and practice.
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Evolution in International Relations
  • Jeremy Garlick, Prague University of Economics and Business
  • Online ISBN: 9781009464154
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Evolution in International Relations
  • Jeremy Garlick, Prague University of Economics and Business
  • Online ISBN: 9781009464154
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Evolution in International Relations
  • Jeremy Garlick, Prague University of Economics and Business
  • Online ISBN: 9781009464154
Available formats
×