The primary object of analysis in international relations is the state. Yet it is obviously not the only major actor. In particular there are facets of our natural environment that have a significant bearing on how we act, but these are elements that states cannot control. Our current dominant conception of how the world interacts with itself is framed by the relatively recent Peace of Westphalia (1648), which established the modern idea of state sovereignty. But human organisation has taken many other forms, due to an array of different factors – with an acknowledgement that the Westphalian ideal is also an Eurocentric concept.
Our current norms may not be permanent. This is not an advocacy for any new form of international governance, just an observation that things always change. We currently have a number of turbulent forces in the world from environmental to political that could alter the way humans organise themselves. Being aware of this is essential to being able to protect the things that work well, and to seek solutions to the things that are currently failing.
International Blue takes its name from a Manic Street Preachers song about the artist Yves Klein. The song is focused on a shade of deep ultramarine blue Klein created called International Klein Blue (IKB). This was the colour Klein saw as being beyond dimensions, it was the colour of both the sky and the oceans – shapeless entities that nonetheless have a profound impact on shaping human relations. This blue has been constant throughout the existence of humanity and as well as preceding it.
Humanity often sees itself as existing above this environment. We may have established frameworks like the United National Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to try and control these vast expanses, but oceans themselves aren’t governed by our rules, and can often create conditions that cannot be mediated. The Pacific Ocean’s phenomena of El Nino and La Niña are deeply consequential to both human and food security in Australia, and are a recognition that there are some things that humans are only capable of responding to, not moulding themselves.
Klein may have called his colour International Klein Blue, but its idea is both international and transnational - it can be seen as being how we interact between countries and through states, but also the things that exist outside of them. It is an essential feature of our common humanity, although it also well beyond it.
My writing on International Blue hopes to emphasise our common humanity as an essential perspective in creating peace and prosperity, but also seeks to recognise that there is an inherent tension between the idea of a common humanity and the need to respect cultural difference. Cultural hegemony can often be mistaken for common humanity – it was this kind of myopia that led to the United States’ disastrous invasion of Iraq. The idea of International Klein Blue should not be understood as an homogenising force.
International Blue will seek to avoid a narrow state-centric view of international relations. In the realist school of thought there is a belief that states have a different and permanent set of interests divorced from the people inside them, and therefore act in preconceived ways. This leads to the assumption that the internal conditions of countries are often irrelevant. I don’t believe that this is true.
Issues of culture and personal identity can prove just as powerful as states. A core component of our current crisis of liberal democracy is that many people believe that the state is not working in the interests of their perception of the nation. This is obviously most prominent in the United States, and should these forces be successful in seizing the state the external behaviour of the US would alter dramatically. With untold implications.
Therefore I believe that understanding domestic politics is essential for understanding the behaviour of states. But it is also important to understand other aspects of human relations as well. In particular the way we behave towards each other is a force that cannot be discounted in international affairs. As they are guided by humans, states themselves are prone to the same psychological impulses as individuals. It may be slightly controversial to say, but psychology is the dominant force in all politics - domestic and foreign - and interests and ideas are often less significant influences.
Colours may come with political persuasions, and blue is often used by conservative parties throughout the West – with the Democratic Party in the United States being the obvious expectation. Yet International Blue is not party political. Although I have my own political ideas, I’m inherently suspicious of the negative incentives that drive political parties, and even more suspicious of those who would tie their own personal identity to a political party. Parties may be necessary components of democratic systems, but identity and ideology are often immature forms of politics – the ability to only understand the world through one’s own position within it. Finding a common humanity and being solutions focused – not power focused – means seeking to transcend this perspective.
International Blue is also a nod towards the concept of the Blue Pacific – the collective diplomatic strategy of Pacific Island countries that not only seeks to reframe these countries as “large ocean states” rather than “small island states”, but emphasises placing our relationship with the environment at the forefront of international relations.
At its core the “Blue Pacific” concept is one of responsibility. It is a compact with the future. This is the responsibility of both states and individuals, and could be extended to how we relate to one another, not just how we relate to our environments. The “Blue Pacific” is an idea that is complementary to Indigenous Australians’ idea of “Country”, which makes no distinction between humanity and the environment.
Without wanting to place too many expectations on my writing here – international relations may not be the study of everything, but it should provide you with the ability to see the connections between things and seek to build a picture. It provides a habit of awareness. For example, to see the political economy of each street you walk down – whether there are more Korean or German cars, or Indian or Chinese restaurants, and to think about why this is and what are the implications.
International Blue will be a humble attempt to jigsaw together the various aspects of human action and the natural world that I stumble across.