Biotechnology, Digitalization, and Immigration: New Challenges for the Theory and Practice of International Relations

Abstract

The author deals with the problems of re-examining the theoretical paradigms of international relations in the light of several current practical challenges. The text starts with the presentation of the European continent as a scene of continuous crisis, which means that from the perspective of the theory it must focus on those paradigms that have the best potential for classical crisis management. Then, the problems of biotechnology, digitalization and immigration are examined, which reaffirm the dominant importance of realism in an interesting way. The author illustrates with a series of examples how immigration can become a tool of mass engineering and mutual confrontation between states and other centres of power. Or how the digital sphere and the Internet can be used to undermine the security of states, and what states do to preserve sovereignty over cyberspace in their domain. Finally, what do biological warfare, nanotechnology and drones bring to the practice of international relations? However, it turns out that the theory of realism must also undergo adequate adaptation in order to understand and incorporate the needs of solving new current problems.