The Global Interstate System Flashcards
The authority of a state to govern
itself without outside interference.
Sovereignty
- Key Features: Autonomy, Territorial Integrity, Political Independence
- Importance in international relations: Basis of state legitimacy.
Sovereignty
- Definition: A state in which the political entity (state) and the cultural entity (nation) coincide.
- Examples: France, Japan
Nation-States
Role in international relations: Primary actors in the global interstate system
Nation-State
- A relatively modern phenomenon in human history.
- People identified units as small as their village/tribe or Christendom
Country/Nation-State
- (Benedict Anderson) Imagined Community – but not made up, it allows connection with community(people)
▪ Limited, Has boundaries; Rights and responsibilities are mainly the privilege and concern of the citizens
Nation
▪ Strive to become states – national ideas to be recognized and accepted by the people
▪ Some communities seek autonomy within their mother state
Nation
Country and government
* Attributes:
1.It exercises authority over a specific population (citizens)
2.It governs specific authority
3.Has a structure of government
4.Has sovereignty over its territory: Internal and External
Authority
State
- Nationalism facilitates state formation
▪ Nationalist movements allow the creation of nation-states - States become independent and sovereign because of nationalist sentiment
The way that Nation and State are closely related
Definition: The practice of conducting negotiations between states.
Diplomacy
2 types of diplomacy
- bilateral
- multi-lateral
3 tools of diplomacy
- treaties
- agreements
- diplomats
Importance of _____ is to prevent conflicts, and fosters cooperation
Diplomacy
- Definition: A set of rules and norms governing relations between states.
- Sources: Treaties, Customs, Legal
Precedents - Institutions: International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Role: Promotes peace and justice, resolves disputes
International Law
- Power Types: Hard Power (Military, Economic), Soft Power (Cultural, Diplomatic)
- Influence Mechanisms: Alliances, Sanctions, International Aid
- Role: Determines a state’s ability to shape international outcomes.
Power and Influence in the Interstate System
- Origins: Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
- Evolution through major events
(World Wars, Cold War) - Rise of international organizations (UN, WTO)
Historical Background [of Interstate System]
2 impacts of WWI
- Collapse of empires
- creation of New Nation-States
Result of WWII
Emergence of the US and USSR as Superpowers
4 impact of Cold War II
- Bipolar World Order
- Arms Race
- Proxy Wars
- Ideological Conflict
- Founded to promote peace, security, and cooperation
- Involves almost all recognized countries
United Nations (1945)
- Oversees international trade agreements
- Aims to reduce trade barriers and resolve disputes
World Trade Organization (WTO, 1995)
- Package of treaties that ended the 30 years European wars of religion (1618-1648)
- European states – the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, Sweden and the Dutch Republic
- agreed to respect one another’s territorial integrity
Peace of Westphalia (Germany)
- the principle of state sovereignty;
- the principle of legal equality of states; and
- the principle of non-intervention of one state in the internal affairs of another
3 core points of the Westphalian Treaty
- Emperor of the French Empire Sought to spread the principles of the French Revolution across Europe (Napoleonic Wars, 1803-1815)
- Napoleonic code: Forbade birth privileges, freedom of religion, meritocracy in government service Brief French hegemony over Europe
Napoleon Bonaparte
- Sought to restore Europe to world before French Revolution and Napoleon
- Alliances of Austria, Prussia, Russian Empire, United Kingdom agreed to maintain “balance of power”
- would support each other if any revolutions broke out
- helped nations unite whether they wanted to or not
The Concert of Europe
4 tenets of the Concert
1) Return of the monarchy
2) Return of Christian values in Europe
3) Repudiation of the Napoleonic Code
4) Renewed peace in Europe through great power diplomacy
system of heightened interaction between various sovereign states, particularly the desire for greater cooperation and unity among states and people
Internationalism
– coined the term “international” in 1780
* International law: law between states
“The end that a disinterested legislator upon international law would propose to himself would … be the greatest happiness of all nations take together.”
Jeremy Bentham
Law between states
International Law
– architect of Italian unification, ardent nationalist, and major critique of the Metternich system
* Nationalism and international cooperation complimented each other
* Cooperation among nationstates
Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872)
- Nations were subject to the universal laws of God, which could be discovered through reason.
- Principles include: self-determination, democratic government, collective security, international law, and a league of nations.
Wilsonian Internationalism
*Founded in the 1919 Paris Peace conference after WW1
*Maintain world peace through international arbitration
*Birth of task-specific international organizations like the WHO and the ILO (international civil service)
League of Nations (1919 - 1946)
- “Workers of the world unite”
- “The proletariat has no nation”
- Marxist anti-nationalism: affinity to the nation retards the worker’s struggle
Karl Marx. Socialist Internationalism
*Organization of labor and socialist parties, mainly in Europe
*Achievements: 8-hour working day, International Women’s Day, May 1
*Its parties became major players in the electoral politics of Europe
*Collapsed in 1916 as its member parties supported the war efforts of their respective states
The Socialist International (1889 - 1916)
*Product of the Bolshevik victory in Russia
*Lenin’s tool to promote revolution
*Central body for all Communist Parties across the world
*Dissolved in 1943 to appease Allied Powers
Communist International (Comintern), 1919 - 1943
*Hitler saw both variants internationalism as an attack on the nation
*Fascists believed in the primacy of ethnic majorities
* Fascists believed in regional spheres of influence
Facism
- Reflected the postwar balance of power
- Security Council – to maintain peace and security
- Permanent 5 have veto (vestiges of the Concert)
- Took over the duties of the League
- Grew larger than the league because of decolonization(2015, 193)
United Nations
- Created to preserve peace after the war
- Reinforced principles of sovereignty and non-intervention
United Nations
- 29 countries participated
- Established to combat colonialism and neocolonialism by either the US or the USSR
- Birth of the non-aligned movement
- A Mazinnian internationalism for decolonizing countries
The Bandung Conference (1955)
________ did not believe colonies were part of the same legal terrain
Concert-era international lawyers
- Third world solidarity
- Developing world, Global South,
- Cementing the emphasis on national development against “neocolonial intervention.”
*G22 and the anti-globalization movement
Regionally-driven internationalism
Legacies of Bandung
