TheStateandtheInternational

System

TheInternationalSystem
Whatdowemeanbysystem?
Interactionsbyvariouspoliticalentities,but
mostlystates.Todaythesystemisglobal,butit
hasnotalwaysbeenthecase.Somepartsofthe
worlddidnotknowofotherparts,muchless
interact.

OtherInternationalActors
MNCs:MultinationalCorporations
IGOs:IntergovernmentalOrganizations
INGOs:Internationalnongovernmental
organizations
Otherindividualsorgroupsthatarepolitically
activebutnotnecessarilyrecognizedofficially
(terrorists,nations,etc.)

The State
The Primary actors we study in
international relations are states.
Also known as Countries, Nation-States

A state is a political entity with:

1. control of some area of land -- territorial unit
2. solely responsible for military security -- control
over military for defense
3. Economic control such as power to print money,
trade restrictions, and power to tax
4. Administered by a governmental bureaucracy
(social welfare, tax, police, transportation)

 Some say states require legitimacy with their

people, but in reality this is not always the
case.
States generally have a monopoly to use
force in legitimate societies, although this is an
object of conflict in countries where there are
civil wars.

Sovereignty
1. Key concept in the international state system
and international law.
2. States recognized each others in the
international system (usually)
3. By sovereignty, we mean that in principal all
states are legally equal (de jure).
4. Sovereignty is recognition by other states that a
state may manage its internal affairs how it
pleases.

ProblemsofSovereignty
Sovereigntyisalegaldefinitionanddoes
notmeanthatallstatesareequalintheir
power,influence,wealth,etc.
Sovereigntyalsodoesnotmeanthatstates
canpreventallcrime,injustice,etc.Some
stateshavehighercapacitytoregulatetheir
ownbordersandpeoplethanothers.

What is a nation? Is it the same thing as a

state?
No. For our purposes in international
relations and comparative politics, the term
nation is not necessarily synonymous with
state.
This becomes confusing because Nation is
still used loosely by some in the field of
international relations and in the media.

 A nation is a group of people who feel

they have something in common.
Nations are defined as socially cohesive
groups that have common political goals,
common language; usually share a single
perception of history, as well as common
religion, traditions, symbols and myths.
Where the people and the political unit
have the same identification we then have a
NATION-STATE, like Japan or Finland.

Somestateshavemorethanonenation,
suchasIraq.
Somemultinationstatescollapsefromcivil
war,suchasYugoslavia,whileothers
survive,suchasBelgium
Somenationshavenostate,suchasthe
KurdsorthePalestinians

CollapseofYugoslavia

TheOriginofStates
Howdidtheworldcometolook
likeitdoes?
Whatdiditoncelooklike?

WHERE DID STATES COME FROM?

The international state system is only a few
centuries old. Before then, the transition
was took a few thousand years.
1.
2.
3.
4.

primitive times -- loyalty to family

Then village
Then tribe
Then city-state or kingdom by about 3000
b.c. to 1648 a.d

The international state system was born in

Europe with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648,
after the Thirty Years War.
With this treaty state sovereignty was
recognized for the first time. States begin to
grow in power.
Nationalism finally emerges with American
and French Revolutions, before then allegiance
was paid to local affiliations, not abstractly to
people never met before.

ExpansionoftheInterstate
System

 The state system expanded most rapidly in last 150

years, especially the last 50 years.
It started in Europe and spread to the rest of the
world.
Europeans experienced fast development necessary
(tax systems and military power) to spread influence
and power around the world.
Earlier there existed large empires in other parts of the
world. For example, China was the strongest empire in
the world for most of the period from 700 a.d. to 1300
a.d.

Globalization&FutureoftheNationState
accordingtoSorensen(2008)these
characteristicsaretransformedby
globalization
(1) Theeconomyisincreasinglyembeddedin
crossbordernetworks.Shallowanddeep
integration
(2) Nationalgovernmentisreplacedbymulti
levelgovernance

Globalization&FutureoftheNationState

Sorensen(2008)arguesthatmodernstatesarebasedon:
(1) Nationaleconomy:Removaloflocalbarrierstotradeand
thebuildingofanationwideinfrastructure
(2) Nationalgovernment:Acentralizedsystemofdemocratic
rulesandstrongpoliticaladministrativecapacitieswithin
apreciselydefinedterritory
(3) Nation:Peoplewhobuildacommunityofsentimentand
acommunityofcitizens
(4) Sovereignty:Nofinalpoliticalauthorityoutsideorabove
thestate.

WhichareasoutsideofWesternEuropewere
thefirsttoformnewStates?
ThreeWaves
1. USAandLatinAmerica(17801850)
2. EastEurope(afterWWI)Selfdetermination
3. AsiaandAfrica(afterWWII),laterfallof
communismofRussianEmpireand
Yugoslavia(after1989)