Functionalist and Systems Approaches in International Relations: Comparative Perspectives on Global Cooperation, Interdependence, and International Order The discipline of International Relations (IR) has historically been shaped by a variety of theoretical frameworks that seek to understand the behavior of actors and the nature of order in the international system. Among these, functionalism and the systems … Continue reading How do the functionalist and systems approaches conceptualize the nature and dynamics of international relations, and in what ways do these frameworks offer differing explanatory models for understanding global cooperation, interdependence, and the persistence of international order?