World politics, critical realism and the future of humanity: an interview with Heikki Patomaki, Part 2

In Part 1 of this interview, Professor Patomaki discussed his work and career up to the Global Financial Crisis. In Part 2 he turns to his later work. Questions and issues range over the use of retroduction and retrodiction, the degree of openness and closure of systems, and the role of iconic models, and scenario-building and counterfactuals in social scientific explanation and the exploration of possible and likely futures (distinguished from desirable futures). Patomaki suggests that a variant of his 'scenario A' captures significant features of an increasingly competitive and conflictual world. Among other matters, Patomaki also discusses his recent work on the war in Ukraine, his 'field theory' of global political economy, and the possibility of world statehood. The interview concludes with Patomaki's views on the imperative of hope.