Symmetry and Polarization in the European International System, 1870 - 1879

Abstract

An attempt will be made here to apply some graph theoretical methods to the analysis of cooperation and conflict among international actors in the 1870's in Europe. This kind of application of graph theory requires the notion of a cooperation-conflict continuum which represents the degree of hostility or friendship directed by one international actor toward another. Such a continuum has been used previously by those interested in the analysis of e vent-interactions. 1The basic unit of interaction is an act made by one actor and directed toward some other actor. The unit is the smallest discriminable segment of international verbal and nonverbal behavior to which the observer, using some set of categories of behavior can assign a classification and identify the actor and the object of this segment of behavior. (Harle 1971, p. 204) This smallest discriminable segment of behavior is given a score on a scale of cooperation-conflict based on the coder's perception of the inherent hostility of friendliness of the act. These scores can then be aggregated over a period of time, making possible both cross-sectional and time-series studies. This methodology has proven its utility and flexibility as a tool for studying international relations, but event-interaction analysis has often been plagued by an ability to make itself relevant to historians and theorists of international politics.2The Corkeley Scale

Social stability and extended social balance—Quantifying the role of inactive links in social networks

“…Unbalanced [+ + −] and [− − −] triads, however, are a key ingredient in real-life political networks. Balance theory has found applications in many branches of sciences including psychology [1], studies of international networks [3,4,5,6,7], sociology [8,9,10,11,12] and ecology [13].…”

“…Unbalanced [+ + −] and [− − −] triads, however, are a key ingredient in real-life political networks. Balance theory has found applications in many branches of sciences including psychology [1], studies of international networks [3,4,5,6,7], sociology [8,9,10,11,12] and ecology [13].As balance theory introduces correlations between the edge attributes in triads, in a physics framework [14,15,16,17] it maps onto a system with predominant three-edge interactions. Associating the existence of unbalanced triads to the occurrence of a non-vanishing excitation energy, the principles of social balance can be mapped onto a model with variations in an energy landscape.…”

The promise of historical dynamism for the American study of international relations

“…3 See for example, Sprout and Sprout (1956), Kaplan (1957), Knorr and Verba (1961), Rosecrance (1963), Hart (1974), Brenner (1977, Waltz (1979), Organski and Kugler (1980), Gilpin (1981), Modelski (1987), Niou, Ordeshook and Rose (1989), Carlsnaes (1992), Cederman (1997), Jervis (1997), Maoz (2011), Braumoeller (2012). The categorization is approximate, of course.…”

Alignment, Structural Balance, and International Conflict in the Middle East, 1948-1978

“…By representing psychological relations with graphs, Cartwright and Harary made it possible to generalize the relational balance theory to a wide range of situations such as sociometric structures, communication networks, international relations, and other aspects of social systems. Since then, there have been quite a few attempts to apply the theory of relational balance and the approach of graph theory to study international alignments (e.g., Harary 1961Harary , 1977Doreian 1968;Hart 1974aHart , 1974bHealy and Stein 1973;Moore 1978Moore , 1979McDonald and Rosecrance 1985;and Lai 1995). Both the theoretical and empirical studies mentioned above agree that much like the constraints of the distribution of power capability, the tendencies for relational balance also work as structural forces acting on the actors and the friend-enemy alignment relations between them.…”