International relations have usually been between states, but cannot be well understood through
isolation from other actors, which include:
A. Individuals (those who actually act)
B. Multi-national corporations (MNCs): headquartered in one state but invest and operate
extensively in others
C. International organizations (IOs) (intergovernmental organizations): members= states or
national governments; don’t act
o Ex) NATO, UN, World Bank, WTO, EU, OPEC, IMF
D. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs): act across borders, not just domestic
o Involved for political, economic, technical, or humanitarian purposes
o Transnational advocacy networks- when NGOs work together
o Very large, have considerable resources, interact with other actors
o *Increasingly, overtime, are recognized as legitimate actors that operate along
sidelines
o Not same as terrorist networks but the procedures are very similar- how they
operate across countries to the get word out and coordinate outside boundaries
*International relations= misnomer
Usually not about nations & talk about other actors as well
E. States
1. What is a state?
Unit of political organization with 3 essential characteristics
a. Territorial boundaries (geographical entity): defined by the fact that is rules over a
territorial boundary
b. Sovereignty: autonomous & independent; sovereign power within its orders
Does NOT recognize or answer to any superior authority; is NO form of
hierarchy formally above it BUT does not mean there aren’t constraints on actions
Ex) ICJ- nations can choose to either comply or leave the organization but will have
to deal with the consequences. We can debate “how meaningful” sovereignty
becomes even under international pressure
Content of sovereignty: create economy, tax, enforce laws, military, control
entry and exit etc. (changed over time)
c. Legitimate use of violence: sole possessor of the legitimate right to use violence,
though norms of what this “legitimate right is” have changed over time
2. Problems
Ex) Iraq- did not control all of its territory, fly zones were constrained by the UN, but
still considered a state
Ex) Somalia- considered as a failed state; does not control territory, has no legitimate
right to violence
a. States as actors- people take actions in the name of the state for bureaucratic, etc.
purposes
b. States and nations
Nation: a group of people sharing certain history & culture, sometimes language &
religion
Some nations have states, some don’t (Palestinians a state without a nation)
When states=nations (match the territorial boundaries), they are called nation-
states
Ex) Soviet Union-collection of states
Ex) Former colonies in Africa not nation states Ex) Taiwan, Puerto Rico, etc..
3. History (the emergence of states): state= product of a long process
o City-states of Greece & Italy= predecessors of today’s states
o Treaty of Westphalia 1648 (ended the 30 Years War)= beginning of the modern
state system; confirmed a system of legally recognized states; largely in part, by
taking away power from the church (abandoned the idea of a universal common
Christian wealth governed by a pope/emperor) Rulers of states could make
decisions about religion for the people; states became a higher authority than the
church, legally speaking
o Protestant Reformation- when Martin Lu
More
Less
