Description: In Quantum International Relations, James Der Derian and Alexander Wendt gather rising scholars and leading experts to make the case for quantum approaches to world politics. Contributors present the core principles of quantum mechanics--entanglement, uncertainty, superposition, and the wave function--as significant catalysts and superior heuristics for an accelerating quantum future. Facing a reality which no longer corresponds to an outdated Newtonian worldview of states as billiard balls, individuals as rational actors or power as objective interest, Der Derian and Wendt issue an urgent call for a new human science of quantum International Relations.
Review Quotes: "Breaking new ground boldly, this book aims at creating a human science of IR by looking to quantum physics for inspiration and insight. The two undisputed leaders in this burgeoning IR field, James Der Derian and Alexander Wendt, have assembled uniformly outstanding chapters. If you worry that IR has too little to say about the spreading virus within us and the warming planet around us, and a host of other pressing issues, you can learn enormously from this collection-and then you should teach it to your undergraduate and graduate students!" -- Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University and editor of Uncertainty and its Discontents: Worldviews in World Politics
"While world politics is increasingly characterized by networked simultaneity, AI-generated synthetic media, and endlessly multiplying meta-verses, the formal study of the field is still flash frozen in a classical Newtonian worldview. This carefully curated edited collection provides an extremely thorough and highly provocative introduction to the many ways in which quantum theory can better inform our understanding of international relations. There is currently no other source that covers so well the history, scientific principles, and the promises and perils of quantum physics as they relate to the study of world politics." -- Ron Deibert, Director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and author of Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society"This provocative and ground-breaking collection will make you question the classical understandings of international relations and discover new entanglements. It's a thrilling glimpse into how the quantum paradigm might transform the foundations of the social sciences as much as it has for physics, chemistry, and computer science." -- Kate Crawford, Research Professor at USC Annenberg, and author of Atlas of AI"There has come a need for a newly engaged examination of what the whole realm of quantum thought means, and how new developments in quantum technology might change us in profound ways. The new explorations collected here perform that function admirably; as far as I know, there is no other collection like it, and it is sorely needed." -- Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry for the Future"Rich edited volume...improving our understanding of how individual actions transform the social phenomena is a worthy and timely academic pursuit. As such, the book offers unique insights that will inspire critically oriented scholars." -- Jakub Tesa%r, International Affairs"Being the very first-and still probably the only-edited bookdedicated to quantum IR, this volume is a truly welcome and much anticipated addition to this endeavor. Anyone who wonders about how IR can benefit from quantum perspectives should not hesitate to pick up a copy and delve into it (if they have not already done so). The reward would be an incredible intellectual feast like no other." -- Chengxin Pan, E-International Relations