A series on The Disruptive Dependency Theory -- Part 1

 A series on The Disruptive Dependency Theory -- Part 1

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My series on the Disruptive Dependency Theory commences with this post. I've cut and pasted content from my Teaching Note on the Disruptive Dependency Theory into this blog post. As a result, there are some minor indentation and formatting errors. The reader is requested to please ignore these minor deviations from the norm.

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Title: 

The name "Niall Ferguson", and Thoughts on ChatGPT and Writing History Using ChatGPT -Part 1 (including the Disruptive Dependency Theory)

 ABSTRACT

This section is the Abstract for  a Teaching Document that introduces Disruptive Dependency Theory

The Disruptive Dependency Theory posits that the global system can be understood through the dichotomy of "core" and "periphery" nations. The "core" represents a group of powerful countries—including the United States, China, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom—while the "periphery" consists of weaker states. The set of states that should be considered the "periphery" cannot be established in a mathematically conclusive sense but certainly small nations, such as the island nations of Vanuatu, Togo, Jamaica, and Antigua & Barbuda belong to the periphery. Since the end of World War II, this core-periphery relationship has been stabilized by economic models and frameworks that rely on enduring assumptions about global power dynamics. Core nations exert influence over periphery nations through a combination of political, economic, social, cultural, and technological strategies. These mechanisms ensure the perpetuation of existing power imbalances while shaping the global landscape. Additionally, on a humorous note (further explored in slides accompanying the Teaching Document), I explore the provocative idea of whether historian Niall Ferguson can be considered an early, human counterpart to AI-driven content generation (e.g., ChatGPT). While I argue that his conclusions should not be fully trusted, his prose remains grammatically sound.

DISCUSSION

The name “Niall Ferguson” has two parts: the name “Niall” and the name “Ferguson”. Niall is a male given name of Irish origin. The original meaning of the name is unknown, but popular modern sources have suggested that it means "champion" (derived from the Old Irish word niadh). The name “Ferguson” is an Anglicization of the Scots Gaelic “Macfhearghus", a patronymic form of the personal name Fergus which translates as son of the angry (one).

A photograph of Queen Victoria, Queen of 

the "United" Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Are you ready? Brace yourselves: Niall Ferguson is actually a "wetware" early edition, Homo Sapiens-genes based version of ChatGPT. I know, I know, it's shocking. But hear me out: both have a tendency to ramble on about things they don't really understand, both have questionable accuracy, and both have a knack for using big words to sound smart. So maybe Niall's parents were onto something when they named him. And while he may not be the champion of the world like ChatGPT, we can still appreciate his...uh, valiant efforts to write history. I mean, sure, he's a bit undereducated, but let's not let that stop us from calling him a "champion historian" or even an "international man of history", right? 

 The Disruptive Dependency Theory

 

The Disruptive Dependency Theory states that the world can be viewed in terms of “core” and “periphery” nations. Thus, there is a "core" set of nations in the world that are strong and a "periphery" that is relatively weak. I have stated before that this has been the state of the world since the end of the Second World War, and this is primarily because the models under development are stable since many assumptions can be made about the world since 1945.

The nations in the "core" are the strong nations. This includes the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom. What constitutes the "periphery" is a bit nebulous, but certainly the weakest nations such as island nations (Vanuatu, Togo, Jamaica, Antigua & Barbuda) belong the periphery. However, I would hasten to add that this has actually described the state of the world for a long while before that, viz., since the Advent of Agriculture. The nations in the core use the following to exert their influence on the nations in the periphery: (a) political strategies; (b) economic strategies; (c) social and cultural strategies; (d) technological strategies. It is important to note that this sort of modelling of the world by dividing it into “strong states” and “weak states” should not be interpreted as a model that only applies to World Politics, post-1945. In fact, this has been the underlying logic from much further back – from the advent of Agriculture itself.