Evolutionary Psychology and International Relations, with Jeremy Garlick

Listen now (86 mins) | This week on the Sinica Podcast, I chat with Jeremy Garlick, Director of the Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies, Prague University, and a scholar of China's international relations.  
  
͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   ͏   

| |   
---|---|---  
| | | Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more  
---  
---  
  
Podcasts and Essays on China -- Free Version

* * *

 

| | | | Sinica Podcast  
---  
Evolutionary Psychology and I…  
| 0:00| | | | 1:26:24| | | |   
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
   
---  
| | Listen now  
---  
   
  
# Evolutionary Psychology and International Relations, with Jeremy Garlick 

| | Kaiser Y Kuo  
---  
| Mar 20  
---  
|   
---  
   
---  
| | |   
---  
| |   
---  
| |   
---  
| |   
---  
| | READ IN APP  
---  
   
  
| |   
---|---|---  
  
This week on the Sinica Podcast, I chat with Jeremy Garlick, Director of the Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies, Prague University, and a scholar of China's international relations. Jeremy is the author of the book _Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption_ , but the book we're talking about this week is his new Cambridge Element titled _Evolution in International Relations_. It's a fascinating attempt to apply ideas from evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, and archaeogenetics to further our understanding of how nations interact.

6:13 - Why Jeremy decided to apply an evolutionary framework to IR

15:34 - Why evolutionary science hasn't really been integrated into IR

19:32 - How Jeremy views his project as refining the IR field

22:43 - The risk of the misappropriation of Jeremy's work, and the evolutionary elements of cooperation and intergroup competition

28:54 - How to avoid the trap of viewing evolution as teleological

34:07 - The idea of self-domestication

39:55 - Morality and human rights

45:17 - How emotions affect decision-making and diplomacy

50:32 - Hierarchy and status-seeking in IR

56:56 - Applying an evolutionary framework to the IR phenomena of alliances, nuclear deterrence, and strategic balancing

1:01:31 - Altruism toward out-groups

1:05:57 - The inevitability of competition with China

1:08:19 - The intellectual challenges Jeremy faced while working on this project, and what he would develop further in the future

1:12:51 - Jeremy's thoughts on what IR as a discipline should address, integrating evolutionary science

**Paying It Forward:** Richard Turcsanyi

**Recommendations:**

Jeremy: _The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous _by Joseph Henrich; and _The Expanse_novels by James S. A. Corey

Kaiser: _Playground _by Richard Powers

 _You 're currently a free subscriber to Sinica. Please support the work that I'm doing and upgrade to paid. 非常感谢！_

Upgrade to paid

   
---  
| | | Like  
---  
| | Comment  
---  
| | Restack  
---  
   
  
(C) 2025 The Sinica Podcast  
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104   
Unsubscribe