Evolution of International Society

The Pre-Modern World

International Society
“any association of distinct political communities that share some common values, rules and
institutions.”
Even before the invention of nations, sovereignty or marked territory, there was an
international system of various political units, ruled by
 Empires (Ancient times),
 Supranational religious authorities such as the Papacy and the Caliphate (Medieval
Europe and Early Islam),
 Constant conflict between Religious Leaders and Monarchs, or Subnational and
Transnational units (barons, dukes, bishops, and chivalric orders)
The Ancient World Treaties and Alliances in the Ancient Middle East (the Cradle of
Civilization: Mesopotamia, Assyria, Sumeria, Babillon, Judea: exchange of emissaries and
residing representatives.
The post-war treaty between Egypt and Hittites (1300 bc): military alliance, freedom of
commerce, extradition of criminals.Still, a very pristine and primitive international society
under severe economic conditions and bare subsistence, survival was the first priority for all.
Only from 700 bc until Roman dominance, more consolidated system began to appear, with
consistent interactions, rules, institutions and structures. The most stable units were Greece,
India and China. The Christian and Islamic Orders
The decline of the Roman Empire begins in 285ac with its split to two parts and the birth of
Byzantine- the Eastern Roman Empire. The City of Constantinople was founded in 330ac and
oficially enacted as the Eastern Capital in 395. While the nominal end of the Western Empire
came at 476, the Eastern part lasted until 1453 with the defeat by the Ottoman Turks. This
was a millennium long decline, in which Byzantine survived not by its weakening military
power but by diplomatic aptitude of cunning and contrivance ("divide and rule").
The Emergence of the Modern International Society
Principles of the Modern IR System:
1. Legal Equality of all States (sovereigns to the same degree)
2. Non-Intervention in domestic affairs.
3. International Communication is carried out by Diplomats immune from the laws of the
hosting country.
4. States' consent must be given to render international law
applicable.
5. Balance of Power as the mechanism of Stability and Order.

The Globalization of International Society

The international system entered a new phase phase after WWII.

A bi-polar world of two superpowers led the Cold War until the collapse of the Soviet Block
in 1989. Then a short-lived unipolar world ushered in the current era of delicate multipolarity
In all phases this has been an international system where the foreign policy of each state is
intertwined with many others. The international system was further sustained by elaborate
transportation, technology and communication networks and by the emerging field of IGO's,
NGO's and TNA's alongside extended use of diplomacy and updated international law. The
UN replaced the League of Nations in trying to account from its predecessor's shortcomings.

The Evolution of the International Society

Baylis, Smith and Owens :The Socioeconomic Order

from hunters-gatherers to fixed settlements and then to territorial areas. Territories needed to
be defended (armies), cultivated (agriculture), sustained (economic complexity and expertise)
and win recognition of others (commerce and trade). Thus, relationships between entities
began (rules, regulations, norms, cooperation, coordination, diplomacy, envoys, emissaries,
treaties). Greece common language common religion common projects: the Olympic Games,
the Delphic Oracle Independence of city-states The Amphyctionic Council: religious super-
polis body protecting shrines and holy sites across the Hellenic world. Proxenia: an institution
that dealt with issues of foreigners in
the Greek states.
India:
Numerous religious norms. The Dharma : natural and eternal Laws on just and unjust wars.
Arthasastra (Kautilia): humane conduct during warfare and prudent decision-making. Treaties
between regions received sacred status and were diligently obeyed.
China:
The Chin Dynasty unified larger parts of the mainland (221bc) and operated a normative and
legal code.
The Spring and Autumn Period (722-481 bc)- formal and strict rules of war.
The Warring States Period (403-221bc) new sets of conventions and treaties of wars.

Confucianism:
an all embracing set of religious and spiritual precepts.
In the West the Papacy inherited the supranational jurisdiction of the Roman Empire and the
Pope became the new Caesar, ruling by religious authority rather than Law and military
might. The Catholic Church was now the unifying force in Europe through the Middle Ages
and the Order behind this new international system.

Christianity
A Strong and Abiding Moral and Ethical Code: Severe prohibitions on interacting with non-
believers (although reality created trade and commerce dealings they had to be explained or
bribed out).

The Canon Laws-

An elaborate set of legal procedures to sustain the religious doctrines: harsh sanctions and
punishments; hearings; arbitration; repentance; safe passage for diplomats; injunctions
against violation of treaties; fines and public flogging; excommunication
.
Just War- a significant doctrine prodded by the dilemma of fighting to defend Christian lands
and the value of nonviolence and compassion: just cause, declared by proper authority,
having a fair chance of winning, proportionate force, the right intention. intricate network of
priesthood bureaucracy
Islam Rapid expansion of Islam in the 7th century (after Muhammad's death in 632ad)-
Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe, challenging Christian rule.
Creating a single coherent unit for all Muslims-
the Umma
,
beyond tribe, race, ethnic or state affiliation. In the early years,
the Caliphate in Saudi Arabia
was the political institute to maintain the Umma but the expansion of Islam along with the
deep split between
Sunni and Shia
ended that system. The
Ottomans took over as the Central Islamic rule.
The world is divided to Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb, and although
truces are allowed (up to 10 years), the infidels must all be
converted or vanquished (Jihad).
Non-Muslims were permitted to live within Muslim
communities but as Dimmi- second class
citizens.

St. Augustine
(354-430ac): born and lived in Northern Africa, A leading philosopher and theologian of
early Christianity

Thomas Aquinas
(1225–1274): born and lived in Italy. A philosopher and Theologian of the late Middle Ages
(Faith with reason).
Developments in Post Medieval Europe International Society (15th-16th Centuries)
1. Formation of
Spheres of Influence
, whereby larger
and stronger states dominated smaller states.
2. The rise of
Reformation
, the weakening of the Church,
and consequently, the enhancement of the State sovereignty.
3.
Explorers and voyagers
(Columbus, 1492; Vasco de Gama,
1498; Vespucci, 1499 ) expanded geographical and spatial
boundaries. States' interests and pursuit of power, glory,
reputation and wealth became
global
.
Three Trends on the International Arena from the Dawn of Modernity
:
1.
Struggle for Power
: started with a lot of aggression and violence (the religious wars of the 16th and 17th
centuries, the Colonial Wars of the 18th century, the Imperial and National Wars of the 19th
Century, and the two World Wars and decolonization wars of the 20th Century), which
gradually transformed into less violent political, economic, industrial and commercial
competition.

2.
The Consolidation of International Law
: more and more States adhered to the rules and norms of International conduct. The study of
international law became the cornerstone for policy-makers and diplomats. International
agreements, covenants and treaties became the hallmark of global politics.

3.
A

pattern was evolving

: major systemic clashes culminating in an international conference (of the victors usually)
and the birth of a new order and stability mechanism to be ignored and abused on the road to
the next clash, which would end in a similar impasse, leading in turn toward another
conference and a new idea of an ordering principle or institution, that will collapse as well....
Some Benchmarks in the Modern European International Society
1.
The Thirty Year War
(1618-1648)- A major contention for power and domination fueled and aggravated by
religious, political and economic rivalries. The major contenders were the Papacy, the Holy
Roman Emperor, the Habsburg dynasty and the Bourbon Dynasty.
2.
The Peace of Westphalia
(May-October 1648)- Ended the 30 Year War and substantiated the idea of sovereignty by
recognizing the right of the German States to conduct their own independent diplomatic
relations. Citizenry of a respective nation were subjected first and foremost to the laws and
whims of their own respective government.
3.
The War of the Spanish Succession
(1701-1714)- All of Europe again was embroiled in War over power, prestige and resources.
The pretext was the vacuum of power created in Spain with the childless King Carlos II. Who
would succeed him as King of Spain was the contention between two dynasties who coveted
the job: the Habsburgs and the Bourbons (both had family ties to the Throne).
3.
Treaty of Utrecht
(April 11, 1713)- The principle of the Equilibrium of Power is formally declared as the "best
mechanism for durability and friendship".
4.
1648-1776: A viable international society
- A century of relative peace in Europe consolidated by international treaties, alliances,
sovereignty, international law, the balance of power principle, and agile and rigorous
diplomacy (some attributed peace to religious and cultural similarities, others to pure
interests).
The New Era of International Turmoil: 1776-1945
Two Revolutions that Shook the World
: the American (1776) and the French (1789). Both "experiments" challenged the old order
and ushered in a new era: people can control their destiny. (Edmund Burk's distinction)
The Impact of the French Revolution
: 1) the principle that sovereignty is vested in 'the Nation', not in the ruler and not in an
Empire. 2) Counter-revolution: the powers of Europe (mainly the Empires of Austria and
Russia) creating
the Concert of Europe
in an attempt to prevent a preponderant power such as revolutionary France and Napoleon
from ever threatening the status-quo again. In
the Congress of Vienna (1815)
, a more institutionalized version of the balance-of-power system was launched to stabilize
Europe, prevent any more revolutions and preserve the Monarchy and Empires. Diplomacy
and international law were retained but in a more centralized and monitored way by the big
powers (thereby infringing on the Westphalia agreement). This new centralized international
system was fraught with international treaties about many subjects (including rules of war,
prisoners, and injured and the neutrality of Switzerland, Belgium and Luxemburg). Peace was
not really established and recurrent tensions led to frequent outbursts of war (
the Crimean War
1853-1856,
The Russo-Turkish War
1877-1878 and their respective "peace" conferences
Congress of Paris
and
Congress of Berlin
) but also to more coordination among the big powers and among them and their respective
allies, which brought about the infamous network of alliances.

The Concert of Europe crashed with the outbreak of WWI

.
The war changed the structure, the players and the rules of the
previous international system: Empires crumbled, new states emerged.
The
League of Nations
was born after the
Versailles Treaty
(1919).
The League of Nations falters in a series of crises in the 1920's and 1930's. Its credibility is
severely hampered when it fails to harshly react to Mussolini's provocations in Ethiopia
(1935) or to Hitler's repeating violations of the Versailles treaty. It also falls short of curbing
war and aggression in S. America (The Chaco War, 1932), Asia (The Japanese invasion to
Manchuria, 1931), the Balkans (Greece and Bulgaria, 1925) and the Middle East among other
sources of tension.
The Formalization of the Global International Society
The Global Covenant(2000):

192 UN member states signed an agreement reasserting the tenets of global coexistence
drafted since Westphalia in various formulations: equality of sovereignty, independence and
nonintervention.
"...protecting the sanctity, integrity and inviolability of all existing states, regardless of their
level of development, form of government, political ideology, pattern of culture or any other
domestic characteristic or condition."
Two major dilemmas in the Global International System Age:
1.
Can
an international system, based on the precept of sovereignty, survive?
2.
Should
such a system survive? Perhaps it should by supplanted by a more suitable base for global
collaboration and coexistence?
Three Major Views on the Nature of the New Global International System:
1.
The American School of IR
: it should be based on the meeting of interests, fortified by institutions, procedures and the
int.'l law.
2.
The English School of IR
: In addition to international institutions and procedures there should be a basic agreement on
norms
and values
(which means really that Western values will have to accommodate with non-Western).
Meeting of interests is not
sufficient to sustain a long-range commitment (the need to move from
coexistence to cooperation
).
3.
There cannot be a global international society
because the West and the non-West cultures are incompatible and the natural state
between them is collision ("the Clash of Civilization School", Globalization-Localization
tension).
Issues with the New Post Cold War International System
* Globalization dissolves traditional collective identities by virtual, imagined,
transnational and supernatural affiliations- a"
cosmopolitan identity
".
*A
global civil society
is formed in which rights of individuals play a central role
regardless of national/ethnic identity (citizens of the world). (Amnesty, Greenpeace).
* An increasing number of
failing States
with internal wars, corruption and crime. Non-
intervention meant not only sovereign-equality but also self-sustenance and viability.
*Some of the new regimes could not master their independence and their states fell pray
to mayhem and violence. The non-intervention principle prevented external involvement.
*The
role of power
in this new system: although technically and in raw 'fire power', the US
rules, it cannot really unilaterally call the shots in the world (Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq,
N. Korea). China, Russia, Japan and the European Union challenge the US global status.
* The common basis of the Post Cold-War Order has been set in a series of treaties as
relying on democracy and human rights. But are these interpreted similarly in various
cultures and political systems? ("hypocritical Western pretext for Imperialism")
*
Poverty and the environment
, two critical policy issues without boundary. They
must be tackled in coordination and collaboration in a protracted ongoing
effort. The effort necessitates extensive intervention of richer countries
in weaker ones, curbing their sovereignty and independence.
Can it be done in any other way that would not violate the
norms and understanding of the international society?