INTERNATIONAL ACTORS:States and Other Players on the World Stage

Objectives:

Distinguish and elaborate on the various actors in the international system

Apply current knowledge of IR to various cooperation dilemmas

Nation and Nationalism Nation

“A people who feel themselves a part of some large identity group.” (41)

Nationalism “a people’s sense of

collective destiny through a common past and the vision of a common future.” (42)

3 Factors Promoting Nationalism

1. “we-ness” – a condition of mind, produced by

Regionalism Common economic

activities & interactions

Similar world view2. Cultural similarity

Common lang., religion, ethnic background, common history

3. Psychological element

Leads people to desire the territorial and legal aspects of the state

Intense wars fought over unity and separation

Loyalty issue Groups other than the

state are experiencing greater growth (than the state) in recent decades

The State as an Int’l Actor

Westphalian State System “State” – rather new

concept Process of creating “state”

as an int’l concept began in 145o

Well-established by 1650 by Peace of Westphalia

Feudal loyalty system, quite confusing… now ending as a result of PoW

Impact of monarchs use of capital and coercion

Factors for Creating the State System Monarch control of

capital and resources

Ability to prosecute nobles (coercion)

Religion and the Peace of Augsburg (1555) Ended political and

religious unity in Europe

Multiple loyalties ended

Key elements of the modern state system were in place as of 1648 A people A territory A government that

acted as an agent of the state Legal entity which

possessed sovereignty

Sovereignty

“special theoretical relationship between the state and all other states”

Internal sovereignty A state represents and has

complete control over people and territory under its gov’t

External sovereignty (external autonomy) No authority exists to order

the state how to act; no actor has the legitimate authority to tell a state what to do

Gives states equal legal status

Defining “Nation-State”

To quote (page 49): “While the exact meaning of the state is complex and

subject to debate, we can summarize the core concept of the nation-state as developed here: the state is a legal abstraction with institutions (government) to control a territorial area and the people who reside in that territory. In the fully integrated nation-state, this control is aided by and dependent on the cement that holds the people together and give them a loyalty to that government and state: nationalism. The state’s growing control over its people and territory, [and] its freedom from having to answer to any higher external authority, culminated in the development of the concept of sovereignty.”

Security Dilemma

In the absence of a universal sovereignty or government, steps that one state takes to increase its security have the perverse (and often untended) consequence of decreasing the security of other states.

Some states more equal than others

Sovereignty only carries the principle of independence from outside authority Many nat’s are subject to

powerful unofficial forces, pressures, influencess

How nations differ in the amount of sovereignty wielded Talents Resources Climate Power and influence

Non-State Actors

IGOs Ex: UN Tends to often behave with

the authority of states Permanent staff with

permanent HQ Primary loyalty? Memebership – limited or

not? (NATO vs UN) Single Purpose

Common = military General purpose

Military Economic Social cultural, etc

NGOs Worldwide organizations Not official representatives

of governments Increased from 134 in

1905 to 4,700 in 1986 Generally perform low-

level, specifically functioned tasks Doctors w/o Borders Red Cross Red Crescent Amnesty Int’l

Indivviduals

Non-State Actors (Continued) Multinational Corps.

At least 7,000 (2004) Total subsidiaries =

more than 26,000 Can affect policies of

host and foreign governments Pricing and marketing

strategies Deeply involved in

political processes of govt’s

Financing coups Bribery

Loyalty to State or Non-State? The State

Has many advantages over other actors

Legal status of formal sover., demographic, economic, and military capabilities unmatched by other actors

Other Actors They do exist! – therefore

must be taken into serious account

Given attention by states and state policies

Can affect the “menu of constraints” of N-S’s and other international actors