IR theories are rooted in the present, they are nurtured by the past and look at the future. IR theories are multifaceted. Depending on the various analytical models, these preferences – a model can be backward-, present- and or future-oriented – are more or less predominant and interplay within one single theory. Temporality is a crucial dimension in contemporary epistemological debates that needs to be underlined. The major IR models bear its marks as the main questions these theories are confronted to testify. Temporality lies at the center of the theory practice nexus. Finally, temporality is a prevailing dimension of the dialogue as well as the competition between the various IR models that strive for modernity and look at the future.

Ariel Colonomos holds degrees from the University of Paris-Dauphine (business and administration), the University of Paris X (philosophy) and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Ph.D. in political science from ). He joined the Center for International Studies and Research in 1998 and is Coordinator (with Alain Dieckhoff) of the “Monde” (International Issues) book series at the Presses de Sciences Po.  As a member of the editorial boards of International Political Sociology and Revue des deux mondes, Dr. Colonomos is a regular visiting scholar at Columbia University with the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace. He is also the author of several publications focusing on the emergence of norms in the post-cold war era and on the role of moral entrepreneurs, including a recent study on the preventive use of force and its justification. His new research project investigates the role of predictive ideas in international relations.