The Idea of Competition in International Political Theory: Some Current Aspects of the Discussion

Abstract

Introduction. The article presents an attempt to identify the origins as well as the immediate causes of the diversity of interpretations of the concept of “competition” in modern political theory through a comparative analysis of the results of discussions of foreign scientists adhering to utterly diversified methodological, philosophical, and ideological positions. Methods and materials. The analysis of these discussions is carried out from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining the methodologies of modern political theory, political economy, political ethics and psychology, the methodology of history, the theory of international relations, and other scientific areas. More than 60 works by prominent foreign experts, published mostly in the last decade, were used as source materials for the study. Many of them are openly polemical and controversial. Analysis. A noteworthy moment in theoretical debates at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries is the desire of many specialists to distance themselves from traditional neoliberal rhetoric and explore the latest trends and modifications of competition at the levels of world and national politics from fundamentally new methodological positions. The ideas of creating alternative theoretical models that ensure harmony between competition and cooperation and thereby help overcome almost half a century of dominance of the neoliberal world order paradigm have a wide resonance. Their immediate consequence is the emergence of new conceptual interpretations that characterize the specific features of the formation of the idea of the new international order, with corresponding changes in the field of political terminology. Results. The main section of the article presented an attempt to characterize the modern foreign policy turn towards “new strategic competition” and highlight, in particular, the emerging theoretical problem, which experts sometimes refer to as the “paradigm of armed interdependence.” Amid discussions around the Ukrainian conflict in Western scientific literature, some interpretations of the problem of political and economic rivalry between the United States and China look paradoxical: they often reflect the clear desire of the American ruling elite to maneuver and, if possible, avoid the prospect of waging a war on two fronts. Authors’contribution. V.A. Gutorov analyzed the main directions of discussions related to the problem of conceptualizing the notion of “competition” in international political theory. A.A. Shirinyants carried out a direct analysis of the theoretical and ideological debates around the diverse problems of global and regional rivalry between the world powers.