Evolutionary Psychology and International Relations, with Jeremy Garlick

Sinica Podcast

Kaiser Kuo

Culture, China News, Hangzhou, Chinese, International Relations, Chongqing, Beijing, Sichuan, Currentaffairs, China, Politics, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, China Economy, News, China Politics, Business, Film, Shenzhen

4.8 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on the Sinica Podcast, I chat with Jeremy Garlick, Director of the Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies, Prague University, and a scholar of China’s international relations. Jeremy is the author of the book Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption, but the book we're talking about this week is his new Cambridge Element titled Evolution in International Relations. It's a fascinating attempt to apply ideas from evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, and archaeogenetics to further our understanding of how nations interact.

6:13 – Why Jeremy decided to apply an evolutionary framework to IR

15:34 – Why evolutionary science hasn’t really been integrated into IR

19:32 – How Jeremy views his project as refining the IR field

22:43 – The risk of the misappropriation of Jeremy’s work, and the evolutionary elements of cooperation and intergroup competition

28:54 – How to avoid the trap of viewing evolution as teleological

34:07 – The idea of self-domestication

39:55 – Morality and human rights

45:17 – How emotions affect decision-making and diplomacy

50:32 – Hierarchy and status-seeking in IR

56:56 – Applying an evolutionary framework to the IR phenomena of alliances, nuclear deterrence, and strategic balancing

1:01:31 – Altruism toward out-groups

1:05:57 – The inevitability of competition with China

1:08:19 – The intellectual challenges Jeremy faced while working on this project, and what he would develop further in the future

1:12:51 – Jeremy’s thoughts on what IR as a discipline should address, integrating evolutionary science

Paying It Forward: Richard Turcsányi

Recommendations:

Jeremy: The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich; and The Expanse novels by James S. A. Corey

Kaiser: Playground by Richard Powers

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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