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The International System: "At the Edge of Chaos"

Ingo Piepers
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Abstract

The assumption that complex systems function optimally at the edge of chaos seems applicable to the international system as well. In this paper I argue that the normal chaotic war dynamic of the European international system (1495-1945) was temporarily (1657-1763) interrupted by a more simplified dynamic, resulting in more intense Great Power wars and in a delay of the reorganization of the international system in the 18th century.

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Ingo Piepers. 2014-09-24. The International System: "At the Edge of Chaos". https://arxiv.org/abs/nlin/0611062

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