Lesson 2: Global Interstate System 3.
GOVERNMENT-AGENCIES/OFFICES WHICH CARRIES
Global Interstate
- It is an institutional arrangement of governance that
addresses regional or globalized issues that go beyond
the scope of a nation-state.
- Global interstate is also known as International
Relations.
- Political scientists commonly called this international
system and this is the focal point of the field of
international relations.
- It is defined by the existence of international division of
labor. The division of labor consists of three zones
(according to profitable industries and activities):
o The Core
o The Semi- Periphery
o The Periphery.
- THE INTERSTATE SYSTEM HAS BEEN ORGANIZED
AROUND THE PRINCIPLES OF SOVEREIGNTY,
TERRITORIALITY, AND NON-INTERFERENCE.
- The use of the term “interstate” is preferred over
“international” to emphasize that what is being dealt with
are states instead of nations.
The Interstate System
- The idea of a ‘system’ requires the existence of units,
among which interactions take place (Buzan 1993).
- In the interstate system, the units are the states, and their
interactions include war, diplomacy, and cooperation.
History of Interstate System
- The contemporary interstate system can be traced back to
the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years
War in Europe. The continent before 1648 consisted of
political units smaller than the states.
- These political units include territories ruled by powerful
feudal lords who did not necessarily owe allegiance to the
monarchs.
- At the macro level, authority resided in the Holy Roman
empire. This made the state being not the focus of power.
- The current interstate system is a result of convergence of
economic and political factors, wealth and coercion. These
factors enabled monarchs to wield powers enough to
challenge the dominance of the Holy Roman Empire as
well as the feudal lords.
What is a State?
- A COMMUNITY OF PERSONS, MORE OR LESS UNITED,
OCCUPYING A DEFINITE PORTION OF TERRITORY,
HAVING A GOVERNMENT OF ITS OWN IN WHICH A
GREAT NUMBER OF INHABITANTS RENDER
OBEDIENCE AND INDEPENDENT OF EXTERNAL
CONTROL.
Elements of the State
1.TERRITORY- DEFINITE PORTION OF THE EARTH WHERE
THE PEOPLE LIVE.
2. PEOPLE- MASS OF INHABITANTS WHO LIVE WITHIN THE
TERRITORY OF STATE
OUT THE WILL OF STATE, THAT IS TO MAINTAIN ORDER
AND SECURITY IN THE STATE.
4. SOVEREIGNTY- SUPREME POWER OF THE STATE TO
COMMAND OBEDIENCE FROM ITS PEOPLE AND TO BE
FREE FROM OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE (INDEPENDENCE).
Four Types of Sovereignty
1. Internal Sovereignty
2. External Sovereignty
3. Political Sovereignty
4. Legal Sovereignty
The Treaty of Westphalia (European Organization
before UN)
- As a rule, every state must respect each other’s
sovereignty and not intervene in the each domestic affairs
- The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) recognizes the principle
of sovereign statehood.
The Concert of Europe
- From 1815 – 1914 the concert of Europe established a set
of principles, rules and practices that helped to maintain
balance between the major powers after the Napoleonic
wars, and to spare Europe from another broad conflict.
- The concert of Europe, also known as the Congress
System or The Vienna System after the congress of
Vienna was a system of dispute resolution adopted by the
major powers of Europe to avoid future conflicts escalating
into war, and to solidify and maintain their powers in their
respective controlled regions.
- Their goal was primarily to prevent any figure like
Napoleon who would incite popular uprisings and cause
Europe instability.
Theories of Interstate Relations
Realism
- In an Anarchic International System, wherein there’s an
absence of central authority, states must fend for
themselves and must amass power to protect themselves
from the depradations of other states.
The state’s power may be based on the following elements:
1. MILITARY STRENGTH
2. STRONG ECONOMY
3. INTERNAL STABILITY
4. FOREIGN ALLIANCES
Liberalism
• liberals maintain that economic interdependence
minimizes conflicts. As rational actors, it is not in state’s
best interests to sacrifice the gains of economic ties by
engaging in costly conflicts.
• conflicts and wars can only result in mutually assured
economic destruction.
• Liberals believe that democratic states do not fight other
democracies. They respect each other.
Constructivism
- Constructivists argue that both state interests and anarchy
are socially constructed, that is they are created by the
states themselves.
- Constructivists highlight the importance of norms.
- Norms - are ideas that have an effect on the behavior of
agents. Norms may be regulative, prescriptive, or
constitutive.

Marxism

The Role of Non-State Actors

1.INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
- PROMOTE PEACE, SECURITY AND COOPERATION (UN,
EU, ASEAN, NATO)
2. NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS
- ENGAGE IN VARIOUS ADVOCACIES LIKE ENVIRONMENT
PROTECTION, HUMAN RIGHTS (AMNESTY INT’L,
GREENPEACE)
The Modern World System
CORE
- high income nations in the world economy. This is the
manufacturing base of the planet where resources
funnel in to become the technology and wealth enjoyed by
the Western world today.
- They are the dominant capitalist countries that exploit
peripheral countries for labor and raw materials.

SEMI-PERIPHERY
- are the middle- income countries (i.e. India and Brazil).
They are considered semi-periphery due to their closer
ties to the economic core. Semi-peripheral countries
share characteristics of both core and peripheral
countries.
PERIPHERY
- they are the low-income countries, whose natural
resources or labor support the wealthier countries,
first as colonies and now by working for multinational
corporations under the neo-colonialism. They are
dependent on core countries for capital and have
underdeveloped industry.
What is the Ideology of Interstate System?
- It is the sovereign equality, and while the system generally
presents a set of constraints on the power of individual
states, states within the system are “neither sovereign
nor equal.” Not only do strong states impose their will on
weak states, strong states also impose limitations upon
other strong states, and tend to seek strengthened
international rules, since enforcing consequences for
broken rules can be highly beneficial and confer
comparative advantages.