40 Chapter Three
on the international stage. This stream soon divided into two broad
categories which can be described as “Durable Disorder” and “Chaotic
Anarchy.”
The term “Durable Disorder” originates in the work of Philip Cerny^5
and describes a world which is not dominated by the state structure and is
less stable, but does not necessarily resemble the Hobbesian state of
nature. This term is based in the historical Eurocentric approach towards
the New Middle Ages as presented by Jörg Friedrichs^6. International
structure is created by state actors of different strengths and different
levels of territorial control combined with non-state units providing some
functions of a state, controlling some territory, supplementing the state in
places where the state is missing, or misusing instability for illegal
activities. This is further combined with the existence of predatory actors
such as pirate groups, etc. In this world a natural balance exists and the
two main pillars – economic and political – try to balance each other, with
the social pillar trying to keep them both responsible for the population of
the given territory. This creates a confusing and complicated system which
is less stable and has a higher potential for the use of violence than the
Westphalia system, but might actually solve some geopolitical issues
created by the states ́ stress on territorial sovereignty even though this
sovereignty is a judicial fiction. In this scenario, the state is one of the
actors and not necessarily the strongest one, but some form of peaceful
cooperation takes place. Due to these factors, the identities of the
population overlap and the state is not necessarily the prime unit with
which people identify but it still has its role in the society. Durable
Disorder as an ideal-type is thus a system where different actors working
under the two universalistic pillars cooperate.
The second approach contradicts the cooperative nature of the first
one. Most thoroughly described by Phil Williams,^7 Chaotic Anarchy is a
concept which describes a violent environment with many actors fighting
each other over natural resources, power, religion, ethnicity, etc. This line
of thought follows the direction started by Robert Kaplan in his “Coming
Anarchy.”^8 The region caught in a Chaotic Anarchy is an area where the
state does not provide even the basic function of security and no other
actor is able to do so either. Different groups are in constant violent
(^5) Cerny, “Neomedievalism, Civil War and the New Security Dilemma:
Globalization as Durable Disorder”, 36-64.
(^6) Friedrichs, “The Meaning of New Medievalism”, 475-502.
(^7) Williams, From the New Middle Ages to a New Dark Age: The Decline of the
State and US Strategy.
(^8) Kaplan, “The Coming Anarchy”, 44-76.