Human Nature

"With these shortcomings in mind, our aim is to propose a new and more comprehensive framework for understanding global politics, which we term Symbiotic Realism. Symbiotic Realism may be described as a theory of relations in a globally anarchic world of instant connectivity and interdependence. It aims to go beyond the statecentrism of realism, integrating a number of actors that have thus far been either underemphasized or ignored by the realist paradigm. It also attempts to provide a more complex understanding of the workings of the global system by identifying four interlocking dynamics, namely the predilections of human nature, global anarchy, interdependence, and instant connectivity. The actors we believe must be considered, given the substrates of human nature, the condition of global anarchy, and globalization, are: (1) the individual; (2) the state; (3) large collective identities; (4) international organizations (multilateral institutions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)); (5) transnational corporations (TNCs); (6) the environment; (7) women; (8) natural resources; and (9) information and communications technology (ICT). All are important and help to (re)produce the global order while, at the same time, being affected by it. Even in approaches that attempt to depart from the state-centrism of realism, it is often not clear where some or all of these actors fit. The biosphere (the environment and natural resources) is a particularly important addition, given that it is not usually thought of as an actor per se. We believe that it should be classified as a “reactive actor” since it is reacting to human activities in such a way as to call into question current levels of civilization and to transform aspects of the global system, for example, through global climate change