Science and innovations in international relations theories

Abstract

The article addresses the role of technological innovations in the theoretical discourse on international relations. The role of science and technology in global development is forever increasing, and it is important to reflect its impact on political interactions. The author examines multiple approaches to this issue by traditional and current political theories and paradigms. He seeks to determine the degree of conceptual sufficiency or insufficiency of established academic approaches for understanding the role of science and innovation in international relations as a systemic social and political phenomenon. It also seeks to disclose more promising theoretical frameworks. The author argues that realist and liberal paradigms (due to their technological determinism), as well as social constructivism (due to its social and cultural determinism), are conceptually fragile for understanding the systemic role that science and technology play in global political transformations. While realists study the effect of scientific and technological development on the distribution of capabilities among actors, liberals identify it as a source of systemic innovations, leading to the rise of new types of actors and themes in international politics. On the contrary, constructivists focus on the socially defined nature of technological development and its dependence on existing norms and on the values of their creators. The importance of scientific innovations is undetermined. The author also presents the findings of the Science, Technology and Society studies, which emerged as an interdisciplinary field of research of interrelations between social systems. However, the agenda of international politics remains on the sidelines of this research program. Due to the gaps in the previous theoretical frameworks, the author outlines prospects for more prolific consideration of the problem through further development of the interdisciplinary research field and the complexity theory as applied to international processes.