Few doubt the need for a theory of change to understand what is happening in today’s world.
International relations and foreign policy theories have responded to this need as best as they could, introducing in recent decades marginal changes and adaptations to ideas that tried to explain the relations between countries.
Realism, liberalism, idealism, constructivism, all are valuable theories and still have a lot to say about international relations. In many aspects, however, it seem to fall short when it comes to explain how the world works, nowadays.
The traditional idea that countries’ foreign policy seeks to increase political power to ensure national defence and sovereignty has been enriched over the years with other dimensions. For example, with concepts like that of “economic influence” – that is, the expansion of markets and obtaining business – and the need to defend common values that protect human dignity.
Such perspective, considering the incentives that national States have to cooperate internationally and produce joint results to common problems, has been useful.
A world facing an epochal change, however, needs a different theory and practical action to face challenges that threaten the quality of life of people and societies.
They are as arduous as diverse problems: delineating solutions to the huge migratory crises that put in question the old scheme of national borders, dealing with the cyber-espionage of States and corporations, maintaining the balance between the search for security and respect for privacy, or to strengthen the path towards a new global coordination scheme in pressing issues such as climate change and the volatility of financial flows, among many other challenges common to all the countries of the world.
