Institut for Statskundskab

The chapter clarifies the different explanatory domains of the main theories of power transition, their recent versions and makes the case for an international society approach to power transition based on the theoretical concept of “fundamental institutional change”. In this perspective, the key question is how power transition is shaped by fundamental institutions (such as sovereignty, diplomacy, international law, great power management and trade) and the other way round, and what this means to international order as a historical quality of international society rather than a function of the distribution of power, hegemonic stability or liberal organization. The key answer is that power transition stimulates stable processes of fundamental institutional change (rather than a break-down of international order), while international organizations are key arenas for the agentic perception and negotiation of such changes (rather than the victims of hegemonic retreat or the end of liberal world order).