Ladder of Chaos: Great Power Identity and International Politics in Game of Thrones
Summary:
This article explores the interplay between identity, norms, and power transitions in the HBO series Game of Thrones. Through a discursive analysis of the Season 7 transcript and the discourse watching the show, I concluded that the most important themes that emerged in the context of the shift in hegemonic power were those related to identity and norms. This season focuses on the impact of normative and conceptual factors on how the Alliance operates and the prospects for cooperation between them. I found that the distribution of identities among great powers affects the ability of characters to successfully challenge the existing world order. Moreover, I have found that the survival of actors whose normative commitments do not match those of their alliances cannot be guaranteed through alliances. Thus, the show serves as an effective knowledge-producing website for exploring the consequences of power shifts and alliance theories as power begins to shift in our own metacosm.
About the Author:
Ronnie Olesker, Department of Political Science, University of St. Lawrence, USA
Compilation Source:
Olesker, R. (2020). Chaos is a ladder: A study of identity, norms, and power transition in the Game of Thrones universe. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 22(1), 47–64.
This article is written by Ronnie Olesker
The main point of this article
Bran Stark reminds Berry of 'Chaos is a ladder', which he himself mentioned in season three, saying that the rise of power is the most important.
While Berryessie's statements here reflect a realistic understanding of the Game of Thrones universe, the fact is that the pursuit of power alone doesn't seem to explain the actors' behavior in season seven. In fact, the center of season seven is a changing world order, with "power is where we think it is," as Varys points out in season two, echoing Constructivism's understanding that power is a social construct.
This article explores the impact of normative and ideological factors on how the league works, as well as the impact on the prospects for alliance-to-alliance cooperation in Game of Thrones Season 7, the last season to air at the time of writing. The constructivist discourse on the transition of power is reflected in an examination of the formation of alliances in the seventh season. Although Daenerys was able to succumb to power with her dragon, most of her allies chose her by explicitly agreeing to her rule. This includes the Dothraki and the Unsullied, who make up a large part of her army. Her sources of power are based both on her status as the daughter of the former Mad King, Targaryen, and in large part on the normative order she promised. Not to be the 'Queen of Ashes', but to 'make the world a better place'. While the discussion of the eighth season is beyond the scope of this article, these conclusions are confirmed at the end of the show, when Daenerys eventually renounces the legitimacy of agreeing to rule, betraying the norms she previously advocated, which eventually led to her dying at the hands of allies, as the discussion here predicts.
The importance of identity in the formation of alliances is also reflected in the fact that each alliance tries to construct Daenerys as a "Westeros" or "someone else." Casting Daenerys as an outsider was a powerful political tool for the Lannisters, as it helped them bring other characters together around their claim to the throne. In other words, Cersei, driven by the quest for power, uses identity as a tool of foreign policy. Randyll Tarly, Euron Greyjoy and Jamie Lannister are all united around Cersei for her identity. Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Varys supported Daenerys for what she had done. Her promise to launch an anti-hegemonic challenge against the Lannisters provided the ideological basis for her to attract more allies, including the masses, as a rising power. This makes her a particularly formidable opponent (Allen et al., 2018).
Each coalition's actions are subject to its deep-seated ideological commitments. Like China, Daenerys cannot join the existing international order of the Lannisters because she has made it clear that she wants to challenge the ideological foundations of the existing order and change it entirely. Under these conditions, cooperation between two alliances is not possible unless there is a fundamental ideological change within one or both alliances. One can also predict that the collaboration between the two alliances, even if formed early in the eighth season, will soon fail to achieve the desired goal of collectively defeating the Night King and his hoarded zombies.
Given the interpretivist approach to this study, what is the added value offered here? First, a rigorous review of the full text of the show's seventh season can more comprehensively address the debate in the literature about the show's positioning (Carpenter, 2011, 2012; Drezner, 2011, 2012, 2013; Rosenberg, 2011; Saideman, 2013）。 At least in its seventh season, the show has a decisive focus on the ways in which identities and norms shape power structures.
The findings suggest that the distribution of identities among large powers has an impact on long-term survival. But compared to previous literature discussions, the analysis shows that those who find their alliances do not match their own normative commitments are eliminated. In addition, the findings provide strong support for the argument that group members whose identities are described as violating group norms are at risk of being challenged by members of their own coalition (Barnett, 1996: 409), which differs from the more substance descriptions of the coalition (Walt, 1987). These findings thus help highlight the potential drawbacks of ignoring the normative commitments of their own alliances and support the conclusion that the more countries identify with each other, the more likely they are to cooperate (Hopf and Allan, 2016: 6).
Why is this important? Because popular culture has a constitutive influence, given the popularity of the show, the normative assumptions of promoting to the audience are important and worthy of academic study. Game of Thrones provides us with a knowledge-producing place where identity and normative commitments can predict who in the league will survive the transition of power and who won't. This is an important finding that in the literature discussions of power transitions, it is not always explicitly included as depicted and emphasized in the Game of Thrones text. In this regard, the play provides viewers with a clearer outcome about normative inconsistencies than has been discussed in previous literature. For example, based on the model provided here, we can predict that unless James Lannister fundamentally changes his normative commitments, he will not survive by the end of the eighth season of the show. In fact, Daenerys's death was explained by her own renunciation of her normative commitments. Finally, we find support for Wendt's (1992) assertion here that identity can powerfully predict who is a friend and who is an enemy, and how a common identity can help define who and what is a threat.
Reprinted: September 29, 2022
Editor-in-charge: Zhiyuan Star
Editor-in-Chief: Li Zhixian
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