Anarchy in international relations

In international relations theory, anarchy is the idea that the world lacks any supreme authority or sovereign. In an anarchic state, there is no hierarchically superior, coercive power that can resolve disputes, enforce law, or order the system of international politics. In international relations (IR), anarchy is widely accepted as the starting point for international relations theory.

While some political scientists use the term "anarchy" to signify a world in chaos, in disorder, or in conflict, others view it simply as a reflection of the order of the international system: independent states with no central authority above them.

Anarchy provides foundations for realist, liberal, neorealist, and neoliberal paradigms of international relations. Constructivist theory disputes that anarchy is a fundamental condition of the international system.

The constructivist Alexander Wendt argued, "anarchy is what states make of it". That is to say, while the international system is anarchical, anarchy does not determine state behavior in the way in which other schools of IR theory envision it, but rather it is a construct of the states in the system.

The word anarchy literally means "without a leader". The word combines the Greek prefix "an-" meaning without, with the Indo-European root arkh meaning "begin" or "take the lead". It is adapted from the ancient Greek (ἀναρχία-anarchia) meaning "absence of a leader”. In common usage anarchy has come to signify both the absence of a ruler and the disorder that some anticipate is bound up with the absence of a ruler. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines anarchy, as “a situation in which there is no organization and control, especially in society because there is no effective government".

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