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You are hereby invited to the eleventh seminar in our new interdisciplinary series on Evolution, Complexity and Cognition (ECCO) <http://ecco.vub.ac.be> : A complex systems critique to mainstream IR theory: A case study of foreign policy integration in Europe as a complex system. Mehmet Teczan (VUB) Abstract: Only recently James N. Rosenau’s Turbulence in World Politics (1990), Jack Snyder and Robert Jervis’s Coping with Complexity in the International System (1993), Robert Axelrod’s The Complexity of Cooperation (1997), Robert Jervis’s System Effects (1997), Lars-Erik Cederman’s Emergent Actors in World Politics (1997), Thompson’s Evolutionary Interpretations of World Politics (2001), and Neil E. Harrison’s Complexity in World Politics (2006) made ‘early attempts’ to claim the complex adaptive systems thinking for the study of macro-social phenomena in international relations. The group ardently calls for ‘another International Relations (IR)’ that will finally recognize international relations as being an emergent realm of non-linear patterns of social interactions. Nevertheless, the (neo-)positivistic hegemony is today hampering the introduction of Complexity Theory (CT) to IR and the former’s full-fledged employment. For the mainstream ‘American’ IR theory still sticks to the now outdated Newtonian paradigm. This paper attempts to move further the first steps taken in this direction. It aims, on the one hand, to demonstrate the irrationality of mainstream IR theory in insisting on the (neo-)positivistic conception of social science. On the other hand, it develops further the new ‘conceptual toolkit’ suitable for the complexity of international relations. The paper opts for an empirical approach through the operationalization of CT. It takes on a case study: the emergence and evolution of collective foreign policy making system in Europe since 1970. When? Wednesday 28th March, 2-4 pm. Where? The seminar room is B 0.036 (building B, level 0, close to the human sciences computer rooms), on the VUB Campus Etterbeek. Coffee and drinks are available. Free entrance: everybody welcome! _____ Seminar Program for the coming weeks: Date Speaker Topic More 11 Apr Klaas Chielens The Status of Memetics as a Science: update Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/node/2154> (the discussion link links to the abstract). _____ See and discuss the past seminars! Date Speaker Topic More 10 Jan Carlos Gershenson Towards Self-organizing Bureaucracies Presentation <http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ECCO/Seminars/SOBs-ECCO.pdf> Paper <http://uk.arxiv.org/abs/nlin.AO/0603045> Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1657> 17 Jan Francis Heylighen Characteristics and Problems of the Gifted: neural propagation depth and flow motivation as a model of intelligence and creativity Presentation <http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ECCO/Seminars/Giftednessseminar.pdf> <http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ECCO/Seminars/Giftednessseminar.pdf> Paper Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1617> 25 Jan Jan Bernheim A Progressive Evolutionary Worldview Presentation <http://pcp.vub.ac.be/ECCO/Seminars/Bernheim2007.ppt> Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1825> 31 Jan Clément Vidal A Minimal Philosophical Agenda. Worldview Construction as a Philosophical Method Presentation <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/%7Eclement/seminars2007/ecco-clem.ppt> Paper <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/%7Eclement/vidal2007-wp.pdf> Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1660> 7 Feb Mixel Kiemen Complex-Adaptive information processing Presentation <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1661> Discussion 14 Feb Wim Christiaens Apostel's Concept of Causality: Defining Being by Folding "logic" on "life" Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1662> 21 Feb Dirk Kenis Knowledge Management in Virtual Communities: opportunities for Agile Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) Presentation <http://ecco.vub.ac.be/%7Eclement/seminars2007/ecco-kenis.pps> Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1663> 28 Feb Erden Göktepe Mediating International Agents: a Question of Efficiency Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1664> Postponed! Karin Verelst Deixis and Truth from Aristotle to Poincaré Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/node/2152> 14 Mar Helen De Cruz Universal Selection Theory and the Evolution of Mathematics Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1659> 23 Mar Arnold de Loof "Life": Compartmental Organization, Communication and Problem-Solving Activity. Discussion <http://www.knosos.be/node/2153> More informations about the ECCO seminars: http://www.knosos.be/?q=node/1666 (PDF <http://www.knosos.be/system/files/ecco_seminars_2007_3.pdf> program with abstracts). Best regards, Clément Vidal. _________________________________ http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com <http://clement.vidal.philosophons.com/> Evolution, Complexity and Cognition research group, Free University of Brussels. Krijgskundestraat 33. B-1160 Brussels, Belgium. +32 (0) 2 640 67 37
