A Theory on World Entities: Dynamics in Inner World, External Context and Roles in Organizing World Politics

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Martin Koch
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 448797720

The main objective of this project is to develop a theoretical concept of World Entities (WEs, multilateral forms of intergovernmental cooperation of at least three states forming an entity with a shared identity) by analyzing three core dimensions of WEs: inner world, external environment and contributions to organize world politics. The inner world comprises all operations and processes that take place in WEs. The external context describes the embeddedness of WEs in their environment. The contribution to organize world order refers to those elements of WEs that establish a reference frame for other actors. Analyzing these three dimensions, the project aims to measure and systemize the manifoldness WEs. We will scrutinize these dimensions in three different but interrelated research tasks. First, we measure the whole field of about 5,000 WEs and their various forms in order to generate a taxonomy about different types of WEs and their characteristics. Second, we identify a sample of WEs closely connected with three WEs (International Labour Organization (ILO), Arctic Council (AC) and Group of Twenty (G20)). Third, the three WEs will be studied in more depth focusing on their inner world, their external environment and their contributions to organize world politics. To do so, we combine an open system approach to study of world organizations with the theoretical concepts of the dual nature of multilateral structures which are interpreted as organizational forms having two sides, unions of states and complexes of social groups, human patterns and relations. Methodologically, we are creating a set of quantitative and qualitative methods targeted and operationalized for a detailed and accurate study of intertwining WEs. Herewith, we aim to scrutinize the dynamics of the inner world, the relations with the external context and the roles WEs are playing in organizing world politics. The novelty of the project results from its focus of WEs as a new type of institutionalized international cooperation and its role in world politics. With our project we can encompass and measure all WEs in a dataset, we will assess a sample of WEs in more depth and we carry out quantitative analyses on three WEs (ILO, AC and G20) to study the three dimensions. By combining the three research tasks we will be able to generate a comprehensive theory on WEs and their roles in organizing world politics. The database that we are generating will not only list all WEs, it will allow for a comprehensive comparative analysis that shall be the basis for further research. Thus, our theoretical model on WEs will be a stepping stone for further scientific research and a platform for societal and political actors who want receive information on WEs.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Russia
• Partner Organisation: Russian Foundation for Basic Research, until 3/2022
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Mathias Albert; Professorin Dr. Alexandra Kaasch; Professor Dr. Detlef Sack; Professor Dr. Andreas Vasilache
• Cooperation Partners: Ekaterina Bliznetskaya, until 3/2022; Professor Dr. Innokentyi Karandashov, until 3/2022; Ekaterina Kovtun, until 3/2022; Professor Dr. Alexander Kuteynikov, until 3/2022; Professorin Dr. Maria Lagutina, until 3/2022; Maria Pishchikova, until 3/2022; Professor Dr. Alexander Sergunin, until 3/2022