Concept of Crisis in International Politics

Abstract

The significance of crises in the international system is well recognized. However, there seems to be a lack of clear understanding on what constitutes a crisis? The concept of crisis is often considered within or between states, a matter of domestic politics or foreign policy. This panel investigates how the concept of crisis is used in the vocabulary of international politics. It discusses what kinds of events are constituted as crisis and how these are to be analyzed and conceptualized. How to deal with crises involving transnational actors and institutions? Increasingly crises are also more difficult to grasp or define when traditional wars or states of emergencies have become rare. Crises no longer take place only between nation states, as informal networks and actors are present almost invariably. Crises also transcend the boundaries of foreign and domestic policy and strategy. It is therefore essential to inquire how to deal with the interlinkage between international and national levels of crisis. The panel welcomes papers from different fields. For instance International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Law and Political Science. The panel would like to include views on crisis from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.