© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Terms Privacy Legal Notice

Oxford University Press eBooks

Quantum International Relations

Published May 5, 2022• 20 citations

Abstract

The contributors to this volume are motivated by a common apprehension and a common hope. The apprehension was first voiced by Einstein, who lamented the inability of humanity, at the individual and social level, to keep up with the increased speed of technological change brought about by the quantum revolution. Before it was the atomic bomb. Today it is the advent of advanced quantum systems, which is already the object of intense geopolitical and commercial competition. Meanwhile, as quantum science and technology fast forward into the twenty-first century, the social sciences remain stuck in classical, nineteenth-century ways of thinking. Can such a mechanistic model of the mind and society possibly help us manage the fully realized technological potential of the quantum? That’s where the hope appears, that perhaps quantum is not just a physical science, but a human science too. This is the potential implication of dramatic recent discoveries in cognitive science and quantum biology, which suggest that subjectivity itself may be a quantum phenomenon. If so, then there will be a need for a new “quantized” human science, including international relations. At the centenary of the first quantum Gedankenexperiment in the 1920s, the book offers a diversity of explorations, speculations, and approaches for understanding geopolitics in the twenty-first century.

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197568200.001.0001

Related papers

“Quantum 3.0”: What Will It Mean for War, Peace, and World Order?

James Der Derian, Stuart Rollo

Without quantum mechanics, the nuclear and information revolutions of the twentieth century would not have happened. In this article, we examine how new quantum technologies are coming to reshape war and peace in the twenty-first century. Research and development across quantum computing, communications, and sensing has taken on the dynamic of a “quantum race” between major powers, big tech, and academic institutions. A quantum advantage in these areas could radically reshape political and economic as well as strategic balances of power. In a world already marked by global entanglement, deep uncertainty, and superpositional states of war and peace, quantized modes of understanding need to expand from the natural and physical sciences into the social and political sciences, which remain stuck in causal, linear, and deterministic worldviews inherited from the seventeenth century. We use this article to begin to push beyond the classical limits of traditional international relations to consider new epistemic tools, ethical frameworks, and geopolitical strategies for a world order transformed by Quantum 3.0.

Global Perspectives•Jan 1, 2024•5 citations

Quantum, Diplomacy, and Geopolitics: Strategic imperatives for defence and security in the emerging quantum era

Axel Ferrazzini

•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations

Quantum brain theory

Alexander E. Wendt

In recent decades it has become common throughout the social sciences to think of the human mind simply as a very complex computer. Drawing on an older materialist metaphor of the mind as a machine, the “computational” model of the mind took off after the mid-century invention of the computer and subsequent cognitive revolution in psychology, and has since permeated the social sciences in the form of rational choice and other prominent social theories. The contributions of this model have been huge; but it has always been assumed that the computations going on inside our heads are classical. Quantum brain theory challenges this assumption by proposing that the mind is actually a quantum computer. Classical computers are based on binary digits or “bits” with well defined values (0 or 1), which are transformed in serial operations by a program into an output. Quantum computers in contrast are based on “qubits” that can be in superpositions of 0 and 1 at the same time and also interact non-locally, enabling every qubit to be operated on simultaneously. The idea of a quantum computer was first proposed in the 1980s and is still far from being realized technologically, but it has fired the imagination of scientists by raising the prospect of unimaginable increases in computational power, and other neat tricks besides. If quantum brain theory is true, then our model of the mind would be similarly radically altered, irrespective of the issue of consciousness. Quantum brain theory hypothesizes that quantum processes at the elementary level are amplified and kept in superposition at the level of the organism, and then, through downward causation constrain what is going on deep within the brain. On this view, information from the environment is continuously transformed from the macro- to the micro-level, and then channeled back upward into an “internal quantum state,”

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Apr 20, 2015•0 citations

Afterword

Faisal Shah Khan, Davide La Torre

As we conclude this exploration into the fascinating realm of quantum information technology, it’s evident that we are at the beginning of a transformative era. The journey through these pages has unveiled the profound potential of quantum computing to revolutionize the way we process, store, and transmit information. From quantum computing’s promise of solving complex problems at unprecedented speeds to quantum cryptography’s ability to secure communications with unbreakable encryption, the possibilities are limitless. This book has also unveiled the importance and significance of quantum for business leaders and managers.

Routledge eBooks•Jul 17, 2024•0 citations

Quantum International Relations

James Der Derian, Alexander E. Wendt

Undertaking a collaborative inquiry into a convergence of quantum theory, science, and technology, the chapter makes the case for a new human science for International Relations (IR). As new scientific discoveries and technological applications suggest large-scale quantum phenomena, near-simultaneous interconnectivity creates global entanglements, and ubiquitous media produce profound observer effects of uncertainty, IR theory needs to “quantize” if it is to retain relevancy in the twenty-first century. The central concepts of quantum mechanics that inform a quantized IR are introduced, and the heuristic advantages of quantum over traditional approaches are presented.

Oxford University Press eBooks•May 5, 2022•4 citations

The Technopolitics of Quantum Technologies: Ethical and Strategic Challenges for International Security

Mahnoor Saleem

•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations

The contributors to this volume are motivated by a common apprehension and a common hope. The apprehension was first voiced by Einstein, who lamented the inability of humanity, at the individual and social level, to keep up with the increased speed of technological change brought about by the quantum revolution. Before it was the atomic bomb. Today it is the advent of advanced quantum systems, which is already the object of intense geopolitical and commercial competition. Meanwhile, as quantum science and technology fast forward into the twenty-first century, the social sciences remain stuck in classical, nineteenth-century ways of thinking. Can such a mechanistic model of the mind and society possibly help us manage the fully realized technological potential of the quantum? That’s where the hope appears, that perhaps quantum is not just a physical science, but a human science too. This is the potential implication of dramatic recent discoveries in cognitive science and quantum biology, which suggest that subjectivity itself may be a quantum phenomenon. If so, then there will be a need for a new “quantized” human science, including international relations. At the centenary of the first quantum Gedankenexperiment in the 1920s, the book offers a diversity of explorations, speculations, and approaches for understanding geopolitics in the twenty-first century.

Without quantum mechanics, the nuclear and information revolutions of the twentieth century would not have happened. In this article, we examine how new quantum technologies are coming to reshape war and peace in the twenty-first century. Research and development across quantum computing, communications, and sensing has taken on the dynamic of a “quantum race” between major powers, big tech, and academic institutions. A quantum advantage in these areas could radically reshape political and economic as well as strategic balances of power. In a world already marked by global entanglement, deep uncertainty, and superpositional states of war and peace, quantized modes of understanding need to expand from the natural and physical sciences into the social and political sciences, which remain stuck in causal, linear, and deterministic worldviews inherited from the seventeenth century. We use this article to begin to push beyond the classical limits of traditional international relations to consider new epistemic tools, ethical frameworks, and geopolitical strategies for a world order transformed by Quantum 3.0.

In recent decades it has become common throughout the social sciences to think of the human mind simply as a very complex computer. Drawing on an older materialist metaphor of the mind as a machine, the “computational” model of the mind took off after the mid-century invention of the computer and subsequent cognitive revolution in psychology, and has since permeated the social sciences in the form of rational choice and other prominent social theories. The contributions of this model have been huge; but it has always been assumed that the computations going on inside our heads are classical. Quantum brain theory challenges this assumption by proposing that the mind is actually a quantum computer. Classical computers are based on binary digits or “bits” with well defined values (0 or 1), which are transformed in serial operations by a program into an output. Quantum computers in contrast are based on “qubits” that can be in superpositions of 0 and 1 at the same time and also interact non-locally, enabling every qubit to be operated on simultaneously. The idea of a quantum computer was first proposed in the 1980s and is still far from being realized technologically, but it has fired the imagination of scientists by raising the prospect of unimaginable increases in computational power, and other neat tricks besides. If quantum brain theory is true, then our model of the mind would be similarly radically altered, irrespective of the issue of consciousness. Quantum brain theory hypothesizes that quantum processes at the elementary level are amplified and kept in superposition at the level of the organism, and then, through downward causation constrain what is going on deep within the brain. On this view, information from the environment is continuously transformed from the macro- to the micro-level, and then channeled back upward into an “internal quantum state,”

As we conclude this exploration into the fascinating realm of quantum information technology, it’s evident that we are at the beginning of a transformative era. The journey through these pages has unveiled the profound potential of quantum computing to revolutionize the way we process, store, and transmit information. From quantum computing’s promise of solving complex problems at unprecedented speeds to quantum cryptography’s ability to secure communications with unbreakable encryption, the possibilities are limitless. This book has also unveiled the importance and significance of quantum for business leaders and managers.

Undertaking a collaborative inquiry into a convergence of quantum theory, science, and technology, the chapter makes the case for a new human science for International Relations (IR). As new scientific discoveries and technological applications suggest large-scale quantum phenomena, near-simultaneous interconnectivity creates global entanglements, and ubiquitous media produce profound observer effects of uncertainty, IR theory needs to “quantize” if it is to retain relevancy in the twenty-first century. The central concepts of quantum mechanics that inform a quantized IR are introduced, and the heuristic advantages of quantum over traditional approaches are presented.