Chapter 5 establishes the ontology of relations for the proposed relational theory. It sees the world as one consisting of relations, with everything related to everything else. Furthermore it assumes such relatedness as immanent rather than mere interaction between entities with pregiven identities. It sees the social world as one consisting of human relations with a particular emphasis on "humanness" as the pillar of the relational theory. This ontology of relations has three interrelated implications. First, it assumes that self-existence is simultaneous with coexistence with others, criticizing both the argument that entities come before relations and the proposition that relations come before entities. Second, it argues that identity is created via social relations, or, the relational web weaves the pattern of personal identity. Third, it holds that interest, including the interest of survival, is always shared in a relational society：it is defined in terms of and achieved through relations. Absolute self-interest is hard to define and impossible to achieve. As such relations should be a pivotal unit of analysis for social studies, international relations included.