Process versus Structure

Reading Alexander Wendt's piece about anarchy made the most sense to me than most of the other theorists we have read in class, probably because I am an Anthropology major as well and find social constructions of reality to be quite interesting.

Can we think of anarchy as given in the international system? Is the issue of self-help and vulnerabilities given in the international system because of anarchy? These ideas are institutions (norms) that are there for a reason. The formation of these institutions correlate with the way in which identities and interests are conceived and perceived, especially interactions among actors. One of Wendt's major points is that the reason that there are/may be "self-interested" actors is because of the interactions among states, not necessarily because the international system is anarchic.

Anarchy, Self-Help, Self-interested Actors, are all products of process not necessarily of structure. Structure exists for a reason as well and the processes that produce structure and result from structure produces the characteristics of the world system.

Whether or not people agree with this viewpoint, it forces us, as students of IR, to think about the world in a a deeper way because we cannot just accept characteristics of the international system as given, we have to think about how it has been constructed through process, identity formation, and interaction.