The Primacy of Processes and the Causes of the Russo‐Ukrainian War: A Rejoinder to ‘Patrimonial Imperialism’

ABSTRACT Pierzynski and Joseph explain the Russo‐Ukrainian war through systemic and individual‐level accounts but argue these are incomplete without addressing Russia's internal structure, which they term ‘patrimonial imperialism’. While their taxonomy mirrors the traditional IR ‘levels of analysis’, I suggest it obscures relational and historical dynamics. In this rejoinder, I also critique their rigid distinction between the actual and the real and between process and structure. Causal complexes are historically grounded relational processes. Alongside metatheoretical argumentation, I outline a process‐ontological and holistic critical realist explanation of the Russo‐Ukrainian war—one that situates it within global political‐economic dynamics, while also invoking concepts such as world time. This perspective allows for a nuanced attribution of responsibility and broadens the scope of normative considerations.