Mass Effect! Aliens and the Social Construct

Suppose years from now aliens land on the White House lawn. How would this affect humanity? How would it affect our social institutions, but more importantly, our own sense of identity? I will attempt to answer these questions through a realist, liberal, and constructivist lens, viewing how they affect national and atomistic relations.

A realist argues that human relations do not fundamentally change over time. Because of the newly discovered security threat posed by the aliens, a realist would advocate the expansion of the "human defensive sphere" to include all of earth. The invasion of aliens would expand the perceived security risk, putting humans under a new security blanket. The world would essentially see itself in a balance of power situation with the aliens, rather than one divided by power blocs or even nonpolar nation-states. Relations between the aliens and realistic order would be tense due to the assumption of the aliens' hostile intentions, increasing the likelihood for conflict or land-grabbing. This is a nearly identical situation to what occurs under the liberal scenario; only slight variations occur.

A liberal would view the aliens as potential allies. Nations would broaden their trade horizons, expanding their economilitary blanket over the world, embracing the expanded communication and trade. They would have many technologies or other goods to offer, and Earth may additionally have goods to offer. Viewing this situation as a liberal, one would not even assume peaceful intentions on the part of the extraterrestrials. Again, liberalism is not idealism. It does not preclude the use of force, even as a first resort if popular will demands it. A liberal would then examine their political system, and they were undemocratic, they would not be viewed as a legitimate force with which the world should not have diplomatic relations.

A constructivist would see the change from a historical point of view. Humans have a fundamental desire for a sense of belonging and unity in the face of the anarchy the world presents. This is exemplified in familial structure and its extension into tribes, evolving into the town and feudal state (ending with the Thirty Years War), extending into the modern Westphalian nation-state. As humans communicate more and more, they find more bonds with other people when compared relatively to how different outsiders are. For example, a Chattanoogan and a Bostonian had nothing in common 200 years ago. Yet now, as we see Chinese and Uzbeks or Brazilians, we view ourselves as Americans in the broader worldview. When aliens land on the White House lawn, we will collectively view ourselves as citizens of the world, in the constructivist imaginary. This is where the human identity plays a huge role in determining the actions of the world. The questions from here would be answered by how we saw ourselves as human beings in the galactic space. To answer this question would require an analysis of what human nature itself was, what our interest was as a species, and how we would adapt to our newfound situation.

I'm going to pre-empt the argument that we'd just go insane and fight back immediately, or that they would start out with an Independence Day scenario where the White House is vaporized. I don't think arguing that we'd go to war immediately is really effective given the context of our discussion, where we're trying to frame this in an international (or in this case, intergalactic) relations mindset.

Humans would have what amounts to an identity crisis. For the entirety of our existence, we have never even contemplated the advent of an alternate species challenging our dominance. When others did pose a threat, they were dealt with. But facing a new entity on equal or arguably superior footing would require great changes in the human dynamic. This is so extreme a situation where I feel a realist or liberal would see constructivism as a viable solution or worldview to see human identity as something greater than nations. If we had any hope of overcoming our identity crisis, we would have to define what made us human versus the aliens, rather than what made us American versus Bahraini or Kyrgyz. I'm not even going to try to predict how this would happen. But the ultimate determination of human identity would fix the course of action in countering the alien threat or embracing the cute cuddly Ewok neighbor.