ABSTRACT
Power and survival derive from the ability to adapt. Evolution spawns learning and is a near guarantee of survival. The inability to adapt and change fosters the demise of the inefficient, a tendency that holds true across many disciplines. Neorealist theory, a state-centric perception of geopolitical dynamics, offers an effective analysis of the behavior of great powers as they struggle to survive. It does not, however, offer much in a post-Westphalian geopolitical system where non-state actors are approaching nation-states in their influential capacity. Beginning aĞer World War II when the international system was defined by the bipolar structure of the Cold War, the policy of containment-a state-driven deterrence to rivalries based on ideologies and allies-proved an effective means to manage foreign policy. However, as the geopolitical system has begun to transcend conventional notions of a Westphalian system, as evidenced by the emergence of the European Union and transnational Islamic extremist groups, a state-centric policy such as containment may be obsolete.
