HISTORY OF IR: EMERGENCE OF INTERNATIONAL STATE SYSTEM

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

People have tried to make sense of world politics for centuries, and especially so since the
separate academic discipline of International Politics was formed in 1919 when the Department
of International Politics was set up at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Interestingly, the
individual who set up that department, a Welsh industrialist called David Davies, saw its
purpose as being to help prevent war.

Various theories emerged to explain word politics. These are: realism on the power relations
between states, liberalism on a much wider set of interactions between states and non-state
actors, Marxist theory on the patterns of the world economy, constructivism on the ways in
which we can develop different social structures and processes, poststructuralism on the power
relationships behind all discourses about the world, and postcolonialism on the persistence of
relations of hierarchy in world politics made possible by race, gender, and class subordination.
The first three of these theoretical perspectives, realism, liberalism, and Marxism, have tended
to be the main theories that have been used to understand world politics, with constructivism
and poststructuralism becoming increasingly influential since the mid-1990s and postcolonialism
gaining some influence in the 2000s. It is often believed that a debate between these theories
would reveal the “truth” about world politics and one is also often tempted to combine these to
explain world politics. But this is not possible since these theories are in competition with
another and their basic features are often in contrast with one another. For example: If Marxists
believe economic interests are important, realists believe that national interests are important.

PRE WESTPHALIA - ANCIENT WORLD

The ancient world’s civilizations were different from the international society that we have today.
They gradually transformed from the nomadic hunter gatherers to settled communities. Yet the
term 'international society' may be used since they all engaged in regular interaction that was
characterized by:
1. Fixed territories
2. Hierarchical social orders
3. Varied economic activities
4. Treaties and diplomatic envoys
5. Comprehensive religious beliefs

In the period from about 700 BCE to the first century BCE the four most notable examples of
such systems were to be found in China, India, Greece, and Rome.

Greece, the city-states had a common language and religion, together with institutions like the
Olympic Games and the Delphic Oracle, which were designed to emphasize their unity. Greek
international society was also underpinned by shared moral understandings about rightful
international conduct, derived from religious norms. These concerned areas such as diplomacy,
the sanctity of treaties, entry into war, and the treatment of enemy dead.

Ancient India, had numerous religious norms that applied to international relations, especially
warfare. These were given in Kautilya’s Arthashastra.They were based on the moral
foundations of dharma.

The new Imperial China was to last in different forms and with varying degrees of unity for more
than 2,000 years. It came to adopt the formal position that its civilization was so superior to all
others that relations with foreigners.

Rome, during its Republican period dealt with rival powers on a basis of equality, employing
principles relating to treaties and diplomacy. As Rome's power grew from the first century BCE,
its need to deal with other states on a basis of equality declined.

Christianity has established itself in Western and Eastern Rome after the fall of the Roman
Empire. The Pope's role was usually conceptualized in terms of its 'authority' rather than its
'power', and specific papal edicts were frequently ignored by secular rulers, but the Catholic
Church was an important unifying element in medieval Europe's international society. The Pope
also prohibited dealings with non believer states such as ISlamic states, This wasn’t followed
but was taken into account in order to justify violations later. The Church elaborated the most
systematic doctrine to date of 'just war': the norms to be observed in embarking on a war in the
first place, and in the actual conduct and conclusion of war. Even though rarely followed, they
entered the international discourse and have stayed there to the present day.

Islam spread from the Middle East to Africa, Asia and Europe. It was originally meat to create an
identity called the ulamma that went beyond race, tribe or state. According to Islamic theory
there was always a state of war between the believers and the non believers which could be
solved through jihad. The moral principles that were to be observed during war were also
established. The sole exception were the peoples of the book which were the Christians and the
Jews. who were permitted to continue their practise as long as they paid taxes and accepted
fewer rights as compared to the Muslims. This was initially realised through the caliphate but
when there was a split between the Shias and the Sunnis

TREATY OF WESTPHALIA - EMERGENCE OF MODERN INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

The main ingredients of contemporary international society are the principles of sovereignty and
nonintervention, and the institutions of diplomacy, the balance of power, and international law.
These constituent ingredients of European international society took hundreds of years to take
shape. The key development was the emergence of the modern state, which began with the
assertion of monarchical power against other contenders such as religious authority. It is
impossible to date any of these developments precisely since they were occurring in a random
manner across Europe over centuries. But the Treaty of Westphalia signed in 1648 is regarded
as a key event in the establishment of states. It was an agreement that ended the Thirty Years
War among Europe’s leaders to recognize the following principles:

1. Territoriality: humankind is organized principally into exclusive territorial (political)

2. Sovereignty: within its borders the state or government has an entitlement to supreme,
unqualified, and exclusive political and legal authority.

3. Autonomy: the principle of self-determination or self-governance considers countries as

The Westphalian principles originated in Europe but were gradually applied to the rest of the
world.

Over the next few centuries, revolutions such as the English, American and French Revolutions
led to the establishment of more powerful and less powerful states in Europe. This led to the
formation of Concert of Europe which tried to establish a hegemonic hierarchy in the European
order and was against the Westphalian principles.

The WW I brought an abrupt end to the Concert of Europe. Post WWI the following
developments took place:
1. New powers, notably the USA and Japan, had appeared.
2. There were increasing demands for national liberation in India and other parts of the
European empires.
3. An international organisation called the League of Nations was established on the basis
of the principle of collective security and universal membership. However it failed. There
was a serious imbalance of power wherein USA refused to join, Russia, Italy, Germany
and Japan has extremist regimes and France and UK were the only countries ready to
observe status quo.

The WW II broke out between the Allies and the Axis powers due to the failure of the League of
Nations. Post WW II the following developments took place:
1. Cold War broke out between the new hegemonic powers of USA and the USSR.
2. Several Asian and African countries had been decolonised.
3. UN was established as the successor of the League of Nations. However in actual effect
it wasnt able to carry out its functions due to the Cold War.

POST WESTPHALIA - PROBLEMS OF THE GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

In 1989, the USSR broke down, USA emerged as the hegemon of the global world and the Cold
War had come to an end. This led to the phenomenon of globalisation wherein there is greater
interconnectedness in the political, economic and cultural spheres of the world. But it raised
several questions for the new order:
 1. The critics of globalisation argue that it has led to demise of the idea of a sovereign state
which has lesser control over matters such as the economy. The supporters of
globalisation argue that it has led to focus on the individual rather than the state and the
emergence of a global civil society with emergences of organizations such as Amnesty
International, Greenpeace etc. (TRUMP IS BREAKING THIS DOWN)
2. The post-cold war order has produced several collapsed, failed, or fragmenting states.
This has led to a new set of serious security problems within rather than between states-
and because of the principle of non-intervention, international society is poorly equipped
to deal with them.
3. USA has established itself as hegemonic power in military, economy, culture etc.
However recently these have been challenged by states like India, China, etc.
4. Formally all states have agreed to the principles of human rights, democracy etc. Yet
these are interpreted differently by different countries and are also sometimes seen as a
mean for the West to imperialise the rest of the world (neo-colonialism).
5. International issues especially poverty and environmental issues transcend national
borders and need strict mechanisms that curtail state powers. Yet states haven’t come
to agree to these.

The future possibilities are:

Read this

https://www.reddit.com/r/geopolitics/comments/8y2ove/
what_is_the_difference_between_geopolitics_and/

https://www.profolus.com/topics/geopolitics-vs-political-geography-vs-international-relations/
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-international-relations-geopolitics-and-
political-geography