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Anarchy and identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

Jonathan Mercer
Jonathan Mercer
Affiliation:
A Social Science Research Council-MacArthur Foundation Fellow on Peace and Security in a Changing World and a Visiting Fellow at the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University, Stanford, California.
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Abstract

Is there escape from a self-help system? Realists say no. They assume states are egoistic actors in anarchy; this means states must either look out for themselves or risk destruction: structure generates a self-help system. Constructivists think escape is possible. Because identities are made, not given, we should not make a priori assumptions of state egoism: process generates self-help. Process could also generate an other-help security system. This article introduces a third approach that uses social identity theory to argue that interstate relations are inherently competitive. Thus, for cognitive and motivated—rather than structural or social—reasons, competition, which can be coercive or cooperative, characterizes international politics.

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International Organization , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , Spring 1995 , pp. 229 - 252
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Copyright © The IO Foundation 1995

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References

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