Why are we not all dead

On the Issue of the Circulation of Power in International Relations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6461802
AutoresIvan Loshkariov (0000-0002-7507-1669, MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Número6
Páginas38-54
Fecha de publicación2025-11-26
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaПолис Политические исследования (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1026-9487 • E-ISSN: 1684-0070
EditorialPolitical Studies (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.17976/jpps/2025.06.04
OpenAlexW4416688673
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas61

Traditional ideas about power in international relations are associated with a few stable characteristics such as verticality, asymmetry, control, and static state. Within the framework of this view of power, the problem of the integrity and reproduction of international relations as sustainable practices of interaction remains unsettled. The source of the problems was and remains the unresolved nature of a set of contradictions at the level of social ontology: they can hardly be eliminated, but they can be mitigated. To this end, the article attempts to consider power in international relations as a horizontal and “fluid” phenomenon that circulates between actors, rather than being accumulated by them to achieve certain goals. Three concepts of circulating power – derivative, pivotal and Protean power – are thoroughly considered and compared. The findings of this study show that these concepts describe several poorly understood phenomena, some of which are limited to the field of interaction or the framework of social space. Collectively, these types of power reveal mechanisms of multiplicity and coherence in international relations, due to mutual disposition and partly the consequences of the social construction of norms and rules of behavior. Based on the thesis of the circulation of certain types of power, it is possible to build a relational ontology in which some significant contradictions are blurred and fit into the broader context of actors’ interactions. This type of ontology offers new directions for international political research while recognising that circulating types of power in international relations complement vertical/traditional types of power and mitigate the most complex contradictions at the ontological level of interactions