ABSTRACT
Introduction A chronic feature of the human condition is the relative inability to solve “nbody” problems or even solve “two-body” problems at very low levels of spatial and temporal aggregation where a single large body such as the nation-state turns out also to be an ensemble of elements that constitute a complex cognitive and social system (Feynman 1995; Deutsch 1966: appendix, 258-261). Solutions will ultimately remain approximate rather than precise, but this analysis does not imply paralysis. This final chapter discusses the macromechanisms of role-making and role-taking in social systems of behavior and the micromechanisms of steering and learning in cognitive systems of beliefs (Walker 2002). It ends with a consideration of the ontological and methodological implications of employing binary role theory and operational code analysis as a neobehavioral approach to the search for causal mechanisms and the integration of Foreign Policy Analysis and International Relations (Walker and Post 2003: 63-65; Walker 2010).
