This book discusses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on international relations theories. As a phenomenon, AI is everywhere in the real world and growing. Through its transformative nature, it is simultaneously simplifying and complicating processes. Importantly, it also overlooks and “misunderstands”. Globally, leaders, diplomats and policymakers have had to familiarise themselves and grapple with concepts such as algorithms, automation, machine learning, and neural networks. These and other features of modern AI are redefining our world, and with it, the long-held assumptions scholars of IR have relied on for their theoretical accounts of our universe. The book takes a historic, contemporary and long-term approach to explain and anticipate AI’s impact on IR – and vice versa – through a systematic treatment of 9 theoretical paradigms and schools of thought including realism, liberalism, feminism, postcolonial theory and green theory. This book draws on original datasets, innovative empirical case studies and in-depth engagement with the core claims of the traditional and critical theoretical lenses to reignite debates on the nature and patterns of power, ethics, conflict, and systems among states and non-state actors.

For well over a decade researchers in international relations have sought ways to combine the rigor of quantitative techniques with the richness of qualitative data. Many have discovered that artificial intelligence computer models allow them to do just that. Computer programs modeling international interactions and foreign policy decision making attempt to reflect such human characteristics as learning, memory, and adaptation. In this volume of original essays, distinguished scholars present a comprehensive overview of their research and reflect on the potential of artificial intelligence as a tool for furthering our understanding of international affairs. The contributors take a broad look at the early stirrings of interest in artificial intelligence as a potentially useful method of political analysis, exploring such topics as intentionality, time sense, and knowledge representation. The work also focuses on the current state of artificial intelligence and examines its general areas of emphasis: international interaction, decision making groups, and cognitive processes in international politics. The contributors represent a cross section of different approaches to using artificial intelligence and reflect the major research programs across the country in this new international relations subfield

Recent advances in AI and Mechanism Design provide a vital tool for solving collective action problems, common in international relations. By using AI to optimize mechanisms for cooperation and coordination, we can better address issues such as climate change, trade, and security. Mechanism Design, Behavioral Science and Artificial Intelligence in International Relations shows readers how the intersection of Mechanism Design and Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the way we approach international relations. By using AI to optimize mechanisms, we can design better institutions, policies, and agreements that are more effective and efficient. Dr. Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations University Rector and UN Under-Secretary General, presents the essential technologies used in Game Theory, Mechanism Design and AI and applies these to significant global issues such as interstate conflict, cybersecurity, and energy. International relations are a complex field, with many different actors and interests in play. By incorporating AI into our analysis and decision-making processes, we can better understand and predict the behavior of multiple actors and design mechanisms that take these behaviors into account, thereby producing more desirable and creative interdisciplinary approaches. The book presents real-world applications of these rapidly evolving technologies in crucial research fields such as Interstate Conflict, International Trade, Climate Change, Water management, Energy, cybersecurity, and global finance. - Provides insights for computer scientists, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on how to develop practical tools to solve many complex problems in international relations, such as climate change, cybersecurity, and interstate conflict - Presents the necessary computer science, mathematical methods, and techniques in AI, game theory, mechanism design, and algorithm development - Includes real-world applications of AI and mechanism design in a wide variety of research topics, such as international conflict, international trade, climate change, water management, energy management, cybersecurity, and global finance

The contributors to this volume are motivated by a common apprehension and a common hope. The apprehension was first voiced by Einstein, who lamented the inability of humanity, at the individual and social level, to keep up with the increased speed of technological change brought about by the quantum revolution. As quantum science and technology fast forward into the 21st century, the social sciences remain stuck in classical, 19th century ways of thinking. Can such a mechanistic model of the mind and society possibly help us manage the fully realized technological potential of the quantum? That's where the hope appears: that perhaps quantum is not just a physical science, but a human science too. In Quantum International Relations, James Der Derian and Alexander Wendt gather rising scholars and leading experts to make the case for quantum approaches to world politics. As a fundamental theory of reality and enabler of new technologies, quantum now touches everything, with the potential to revolutionize how we conduct diplomacy, wage war, and make wealth. Contributors present the core principles of quantum mechanics--entanglement, uncertainty, superposition, and the wave function--as significant catalysts and superior heuristics for an accelerating quantum future. Facing a reality which no longer corresponds to an outdated Newtonian worldview of states as billiard balls, individuals as rational actors or power as objective interest, Der Derian and Wendt issue an urgent call for a new human science of quantum International Relations. At the centenary of the first quantum thought experiment in the 1920s, this book offers a diversity of explorations, speculations and approaches for understanding geopolitics in the 21st century.

This book explores how AI and mechanism design can provide a new framework for international politics. The international political system is all manners in which countries, governments and people relate. Mechanism design in international politics relates to identifying rules that define relationships between people and countries that achieve a particular outcome, e.g., peace or more trade or democracy or economic development. Artificial intelligence is technique of making machines intelligent. This book explores mechanism design and artificial intelligence in international politics and applies these technologies to politics, economy and society. This book will be of interest to scholars of international relations, politics, sustainable development, and artificial intelligence.

Unrivalled coverage of international relations theories from leading experts whose case studies show you how theory can be applied to address concrete political problems. In this best-selling text, contributors to Dunne, Kurki, and Smith explore the full spectrum of theoretical perspectives and debates, ranging from the historically dominant traditions of realism, liberalism, and Marxism to prominent critical approaches, from feminism and postcolonialism to green theory. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular theory and features a case study that shows how theory can be used to explain real-world political dilemmas. New To This Edition: A new chapter sixteen on global international relations encourages you to explore the context in which IR developed, and appreciate the importance of viewing international relations theories from diverse representative perspectives, Chapters have been fully revised to reflect recent events, including the Trump Presidency, developments in climate change politics, and the Covid-19 pandemic The case studies help you to apply theories to real-world issues, Revised introduction to each part provides an overarching narrative to the text, helping you to understand and interpret different approaches, Updated online resources include guidance on answering case study questions, encouraging you to reflect upon and critically evaluate what you have learnt Book jacket.

This book conducts an examination of the international legal regime of the continental shelf through the lens of international relations (IR), with a primary focus on global governance theory. Presenting a new perspective within the field of IR and international law, the book offers new insights into the rules, principles, practices, and actors that establish and govern social interactions and the management of common affairs at the transnational level. The governance framework within the continental shelf can encompass a wider scope than legal laws alone, incorporating informal rules or potentially disregarding formal “black letter” rules that may not be effectively applied in practice. To exemplify how governance theory and other IR theories contribute to the analysis of the legal regime concerning the continental shelf, the book conducts an in-depth examination of three significant issues: (i) the demarcation and delimitation of the continental shelf, (ii) the rights and obligations of coastal States in the continental shelf, and (iii) procedural matters related to the continental shelf and international maritime adjudication. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the field of the law of the sea, international law, global governance, and international relations.

There are essential questions surrounding Africa's digitalization journey, including whether or not the continent can truly serve as the last frontier for socio-economic transformation through digital innovation. An examination of countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and Rwanda, which are actively pursuing digitalization, may provide some answers. To evaluate the potential implications, both real and potential, that arise from this focused pursuit, a critical analysis is necessary. Scrutiny of digital infrastructure by companies like Huawei, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and the advent of quantum computing will open new pathways to understanding and establishing promising approaches to the advancement of this region. Examining the Rapid Advance of Digital Technology in Africa offers a comprehensive exploration of the transformative power of digitalization in Africa and its implications for the continent's socio-economic development. It engages with the field of science and technology studies, linking it with socio-economic impacts and transformation, to track, analyze, understand, and critique Africa's contributions to digitalization. The chapters cover a wide range of themes, including ICTs and the business environment, education, healthcare, creative industries, media, culture, tourism, agriculture, ecology, artificial intelligence, blockchain and cryptocurrency revolution, algorithmic governance, the quantum age, and urbanization. This book is a must-read for researchers, scholars, investors, and policymakers who are interested in Africa's digital transformation, as it offers valuable insights into the latest empirical and theoretical aspects shaping the continent's ongoing digitalization.

This collection examines implications of technological automation to global prosperity and peace. Focusing on robots, information communication technologies, and other automation technologies, it offers brief interventions that assess how automation may alter extant political, social, and economic institutions, norms, and practices that comprise the global political economy. In doing so, this collection deals directly with such issues as automated production, trade, war, state sanctioned robot violence, financial speculation, transnational crime, and policy decision making. This interdisciplinary volume will appeal to students, scholars and practitioners grappling with political, economic, and social problems that arise from rapid technological change that automates the prospects for human prosperity and peace.

Regional integration was identified many years ago as being critical to Africa’s quest to overcome its colonially induced underdevelopment. To encourage this, several potentially significant programmes or projects have been stillborn or inadequately implemented. A network of relatively stable Regional Economic Communities (RECs) has been established, and one of its most ambitious initiatives – the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – is now being ‘operationalised’. Written in the context of a global economy emerged in stagflation – a combination of stagnation and inflation – this book provides a deeper insight into pertinent conceptual and theoretical issues of vital importance to Africa’s development. It also presents case studies of several of the RECs, as well as the processes involved in constructing the AfCFTA. The subject matter of this book includes – African lingua franca and African knowledge systems The African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Regional integration: Mission impossible? Regional electricity integration in Africa Print edition not for sale in Sub Saharan Africa