The Hobbesian challenges against the Kantian international system and the failure of international security governance

The international system has become increasingly unstable after 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, followed by the Iraqi intervention of 2003, which led to the abandonment of the Kantian political culture that the international system adapted after the Cold War ended. Instead of the Kantian principles of collective security and security community, the international system is moving further on towards Hobbesian enmity and Lockean rivalry (Wendt 1999; Frederking 2003; Mölder, Sazonov 2018). The present international political and security environment has been strongly influenced by various revisionist powers and anti-establishment movements from alternative left to alternative right, which became more visible in the 2010s with the anti-migration movement in Europe, the Brexit process (UK) and Trumpism (US). The goal of revisionist challengers is to change patterns of behavior by which the international system operates and, in this respect, challengers to the post-Cold War Kantian system met a certain success. The surprisingly powerful return from cooperative security trends to the concept nation-state as the major actor expected to be able to tackle such challenges have appeared in the United States (America first policy), Russia (military invasion against Ukraine), China (under the ambitious plans to become a major economic power). The Hobbesian wars of the 21st century have been characterized by the failure of international security governance and international crisis management to efficiently prevent war escalations and initiate peace negotiations (as in Ukraine today). There appear new environments vaguely internationally regulated (cyber, space) which significantly extend the area of potential hostilities. Influence operations can effectively shape perceptions and misperceptions among public audiences. The modern Hobbesian challenge is much about the Global Knowledge Warfare (GKW) (Mölder, Shiraev 2021) relies on intangible virtual weapons like strong emotions (e.g., fear, anger, and honor), myths, and beliefs able to manipulate with (dis)information.