Humanitarian Intervention and the Evolution of Complex Normative Systems

<p>This research explores the tension between the stability and flexibility of complex normative systems by mapping the interaction among established and emerging normative practices, and discursive justifications thereof. First, I construct a Weberian ideal-typical complex normative systems evolution model that illustrates the processes by which normative practices change. Second, I overlay the aforementioned ideal-type onto a historical narrative regarding the evolution of humanitarian intervention practices in the context of US foreign policy in the 1990s. Through the comparison of the ideal-type and historical narrative I arrive at case-specific adequate, coincidental, and incidental causal factors related to the evolution of complex normative systems, and conclude with a discussion of the transferability of analyticist methodology to international relations research writ large.</p>