SOCSCI032: GLOBAL INTERSTATE SYSTEM
GLOBAL INTERSTATE SYSTEM Principles of the Contemporary Interstate System
Global Interstate System
 States
 have been a dominant actors in
international affairs for a very long time
 Interstate System
 have been organized around the principles
of state sovereignty, territoriality, and
non-interference
 But the idea of state has been transformed over
time.
 The state in the contemporary world is in many
ways different from the kind of state there was
centuries ago.
o non-state actors
 international organizations
 global corporations
 continue to grow in number and take on
roles that either supplement, overlap, or
even replace that of the state
What is an International Organization?
 An organization with an international
membership, scope, or presence
 Ex. United Nation
What does Global Corporation mean?
 generally referred to as a multinational
corporation (MNC)
 a company that operates in 2 or more
countries, leveraging the global
environment to approach varying markets
in attaining revenue generation
 These international operations are pursued as a
result of the strategic potential provided by
o technological developments
o making new markets a more convenient and
profitable pursuit both in sourcing production
and pursuing growth
The Interstate System
 The idea of a ‘system’ requires the existence of
units, among which interactions take place.
 In the interstate system,
o units are the states
o interactions include war, diplomacy, and
cooperation
 a system of how we are going to deal with another
state in this world
 will guide each and every state in the world to avoid
conflict, war, or other chaos
2ND SEM AY 23-24
 Sovereignty
 Territoriality
 Non-Interference
What does Sovereignty mean?
 In political theory, the ultimate overseer, or
authority, in the decision-making process of the
state and in the maintenance of order.
 The concept of sovereignty—one of the most
controversial ideas in political science and
international law—is closely related to the difficult
concepts of state and government and of
independence and democracy.
 Derived from the Latin term “superanus” through
the French term souveraineté, sovereignty was
originally meant to be the equivalent of supreme
power. However, in practice it often has departed
from this traditional meaning.
 Sovereignty – supreme authority of the state to
manage its own domestic affairs, or it is free from
external control because the state itself has the
power to control or authority in the management of
the country itself
What does Territoriality mean?
 A term associated with non-verbal communication
that refers to how people use space (territory) to
communicate ownership or occupancy of areas
and possessions
What does Interference mean?
 The act of or something that obstructs or hinders
 However, in the principles of the interstate system,
that is principle of non-interference and therefore,
the state cannot be interfered from the other state
in the world with the due respect to the so-called,
interstate system.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Peace of Westphalia
 Westphalia is a region in northwestern Germany
and one of the 3 historic parts of the state of North
Rhine-Westphalia.
 Westphalia is known for the 1648 Peace of
Westphalia which ended the “Thirty Years War”
 Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties
signed.
 The peace was negotiated, from 1644, in the
Westphalian towns of Münster and Osnabrück.
 3 Treaties were signed to end each of the
overlapping wars: the Peace of Münster, the Treaty
of Münster, and the Treaty of Osnabrück.
 How are they going to protect? Through
bureaucracy that is governed by the monarch they
will collect taxes from their constituents, especially
to the businessmen within their territory. This is
now how it works after the conclusion of the Treaty
of Westphalia. So the state has been recognized
as sovereign, as independent from the Holy Roman
Catholic Church.

“The state makes wars, and war makes the state”

– Charles Tilly
A. State-centered international system is relatively
new Results
B. States were not the main actors before the  ended the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in the
Westphalian Treaty in 1648 Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years’ War
C. Europe before the Westphalian Treaty consisted (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch
of feudal entities Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the
D. State was not the locus of power independence of the Dutch Republic
E. At the macro level, authority existed in the form of  under the terms of the peace settlement, a number
Roman Catholic Church of countries received territories or were confirmed
 center of authority in their sovereignty over territories
 most powerful institution that dominated long  5 Principles in Politics
long time ago 1. The principle of state sovereignty.
 locus of power 2. The principle of legal (equality) of states.
F. At the micro level, authority centered on political 3. The principle of non-intervention of one
units smaller than the states states in international affairs of another.
4. International law and diplomacy.
5. Reason of state replaced religion.
 Westphalian Treaty of 1648
 recognized the sovereign rights of the stae Impact of Peace of Westphalia
 became the basis for the Westphalian 1. Development
international system (i.e. modern interstate
system)
 the sovereign state or the state itself became
independent from the Holy Roman Catholic
Church  Emerging of  Reduction of role
 It has been said that the current interstate system Westphalia played by religion
is the result of a convergence of many factors  Rise of National o Pope of Head of
 political as well as economic factors States Catholic Church
 What are these factors?  Birth of an o Emperor Head of
 These factors primarily were: capital and International HRE
coercion, that is: wealth (resources), and system based  Recognizing no
means to launch wars plurality of superior authority
 They enabled the monarchs to wield powers International States over them
against Church and feudal lords  Development (Concept of nation state)
1. Permanently exist
2. Corporate entities in their own right
3. Separate from the rulers who
governed them at any time
o Development of law of nations
(govern interstate)
o Rulers free govern as they pleased
2. Westphalian System
 This is how it works. You have the money in the  Known as ‘Original Territorial Basis of
economy that is owned by the capitalist class, and Modern Interstate System’
then, they will give something to the monarch
(money) and the monarch in return will give
protection to the businessman, to the capitalist.
 capital flow, labor migration, and
technology
 Results from the removal of barriers
between national economies to encourage
the flow of goods, services, capital, and labor
 Helped globalize the world economy,
transportation, and communication
3. Anti-Hegemonic System
technologies
 based on feudal, hierarchy system
 Why it matters?
 ended hegemony of Habsburg Empire
o Increasingly, businesses must
 emphasized:
recognize that their success depends
o Independence
on efficiency and scalability that is
o Territorial Sovereignty
being able to quickly mobilize global
o Sovereign Equality
resources and reach world markets.
o Separation of States RATHER THAN
 Led economic decision-making away from
Unity of Christiandom
local control
 rejected pope as absolute
 States are becoming less Westphalian in
authority
terms of legal power to intervene in
4. Adoption in United Nations
countries.
 Article 2 (1) of the United Nations Charter:
o European Union
 The organisation is based on the
o United Nations
principle of sovereign equality of
o International Criminal Court
all its members.
 Emphasizes the interdependence of
 Article 2 (7) of the United Nations Charter:
States and has encouraged the increasing
 Nothing contained in the present
degree of human and material mobility and
charter shall authorise the United
interaction
Nations to intervene in matters
o Ex. International Rights Movement
which are essentially within the
 It views solving socio-economic and
domestic jurisdiction of any state or
political problems require collective
shall require the members to submit
efforts and restrictions on State
such matters to settlement under the
sovereignty.
present charter
 Why?
 No intervention
 This is because Westphalia
5. Growth of National Consciousness
territoriality is over protective,
 Number of states has grown enormously
imprisoning, aggressive in assertion,
 Many changes in interstate relations in the
and condones off areas of opportunity
State system
and zones of contract and
 After WWII, large number of Asian and cooperation.
American countries become equal
 IGOs (Intergovernmental Organizations)
sovereign through decolonization
 have played a role in intertwining the
o Philippines’ independence by United
political and economic affairs of nation
States on July 4, 1946
states around the globe
6. International Relations
 These types of organizations
 Treaty of Westphalia (Jaclyn Hawtin)
consistently encroach on the concept
 created an opening for nation states to
of sovereignty
have a new kind of conversation with
o United Nations
each other
o World Trade Organization
 one where agreements could be
made and power could be exchanged
in a logical and rational way

Challenges
 Globalization
 broadly defined as the migration of human
activities from the narrow confines of the
nation-state to a much larger scale
o Ex: the Integration of national
economies through trade, investment,
Peace of Westphalia Challenges under Globalization
1. Legal sovereignty is no longer the monopoly of
national governments
 Contemporary central governments have
responded to globalisation by voluntarily
shifting power upwards to supranational
institutions.
 Ex: The emergence of the European Union
(EU).This is because the European law takes
precedence over national law.
 Other Ex: Other IGOs (such as WTO) are also
picking up powers which may involve a
transfer of sovereignty. The upward power
shift from governments to supranational
bodies.
2. The control of physical territory is much less
meaningful today, both as source and domain of
power
 Improvement in transportation and
telecommunication
 The Internet of global finance does not respect
national borders and sovereign jurisdictions.
 This severely reduces the ability of national
governments to deal with global challenges.
3. Non-state actors are emerging as the new stars
of the global order
 Large MNCs wielding considerable economic
(and political too). E.g. OECD (The
Organizations of Economy of Corporations
and Development)
 Militant Special Interest Groups which include
organized religions, special lobbies, secret
societies, and other groups that have
influence. Outlaw elements such as mafias
are included as well who have been much
quicker in harnessing the potential of
globalization than legitimate groups.
 The NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations
claiming to represent Civil Society) and who
have, via street demonstrations and
persuasive communication through the
Internet, shown considerable ability to block or
delay the signing of agreements on
globalization.
 IGOs (Intergovernmental Organizations)
created by sovereign governments. E.g.
World Bank, WTO, and others.
4. International law is beginning to challenge the
supremacy of state sovereignty
 Concepts such as human rights,
environmental protection, ethnic self-
determination, sustainable development are
beginning to trump state sovereignty in the
court of public opinion and are invoked to
justify interventions in the affairs of sovereign
states.
 Ex: Today’s attempted genocides are on the
news and cannot be ignored.
 Therefore, interventions overriding national
sovereignty are now approved by world
opinion although the exact criteria and legal
basis for such interventions have never been
clarified.
 The breaching of sovereignty is now more
acceptable, yet the rules for doing so are still
very vague.
5. Westphalian wars are in decline. Non-
Westphalian conflicts are on the rise.
 A Westphalian War is a clash of sovereign
countries according to certain rules such as
formal declarations of wars, treatment of
prisoners, and others.
 The new confrontations are economic and
informational.
 The game has changed and the protagonists
are no longer national governments but
corporations, special interest groups, drug
cartels, ethnic mafias, and others.
6. Modernization
 In general under modernization is a process
where rural, traditional societies are
transformed into industrialized and modern.
 This encompasses not only economic
modernization and development of market
infrastructure and technology, but also
political modernization and the developed
system of interest representation.
 The process of modernization is an obvious
case of dominant countries acting from a place
of power that allows for strategic positioning
economically and politically.
 The United States has been doing this for a
long time all over the world and the most
current example is the U.S. presence in
Afghanistan.
Conclusion
 Treaty of Westphalia created state system.
 It ended the 30 Year’s War and introduced a few
principles in contemporary world.
o Principle of non-intervention of one state in
the internal affairs of another state
o Principle of equality between states
o Principle of sovereignty of states and
fundamental right of political self-
determination
 Treaty of Westphalia is undergoing a historic
change.
A. Wave of democratization
B. Process of globalization since 1945
C. Creation of United Nations and inter-
governmental bodies
D. Humanitarian Intervention
Change in nature and understanding of sovereignty
 Sovereignty is redefined.
 State is interdependent, due to globalization.
 Nature of sovereignty has changed from one which
vests states with certain rights, like the right to non-
intervention, to one which grants them certain
responsibilities—primarily towards its own
population.
 E.g. Human rights violations perpetrated by
government
 However, it argued that Westphalia holds a
continuing relevance despite the evolution of its
system.
 The outcomes of Peace of Westphalia founded
important norms for the international system and
serve as a model for contemporary international
law and relations.
 The transformation in the concept of sovereignty
has rather reiterated, reasserted and re-
emphasized the obligations and duties of sovereign
states with respect to protection and upholding of
citizens’ rights.
 It argues that both state interests and anarchy
are socially constructed, that is, they are
created by the state themselves.
D. Marxism
 It is a social theory that aims to scrutinize and
critique the underlying foundations upon which
contemporary world system is built.
 It argues that the world is primarily divided along
economic lines, between the core developed
states and the peripheral developing states.
 It predicted that capitalism in advanced,
industrial states will be overthrown and replaced
by socialism, and eventually communism.
Summary of the Theories

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
OF INTERSTATE SYSTEM
Different Theories about Interstate System
A. Realism
 Realists assume that just like human
individuals, states are rational actors and their
primary concern is to maximize their self-
interest.
 It also assumes that the structure of the
international system is anarchy.
 Anarchy does not mean absolute chaos,
but in the absence of a central authority
that can protect states from one another,
there is a constant possibility of conflicts.

B. Liberalism
 Emphasizes the pacifying role of international
organizations, economic interdependence,
and democracy
 These 3 legs of liberalism are responsible
for the peace in the post-Cold War era.
 Following the fall of the Berlin wall and
the disintegration of the Soviet Union,
liberalists further highlight the triumph of
liberalism over competing ideologies.
 It reached the “end of history.”

C. Constructivism
 It is concerned with the relationship between
units and structures.
 It answers how we can understand the
relationship between states and anarchy.
 EVOLUTION OF INTERSTATE SYSTEM 1980s
 Soviet War in Afghanistan
COLD WAR (1947-1991)
GLOBALIZATION AND
Cold War
THE INTERSTATE SYSTEM
 War between Soviet Union and United States of
America What is the effect of globalization on the
 The relationship between the US and the Soviet contemporary interstate system? (2 Approaches)
Union during the Cold War  Two Approaches
 Advancements of Nuclear Weapons/ Technologies A. Outside-in view
 The spread of communists around the nations  Regards globalization as an exogenous
o Soviet Union enlarge its communist sphere process that is making a profound impact
of influence: on states affairs
 Eastern Europe  States become powerless to the forces of
 China the market
 North Korea  Globalization is seen as an extreme form
 Vietnam of interdependence such that the
 Latin America ordering principles of sovereignty,
territoriality, and non-interference are
1945 Berlin Occupation called into question.
 Soviet Controlled Territory  The implication is that globalization is
 West Berlin vs. East Berlin undermining the contemporary interstate
system.
 creating the Berlin Wall
B. Inside-out view
1947 Greek Civil War  Globalization recognizes that states are
the ones influencing the level of global
1948 interconnectedness today.
 U.S. President Harry S. Truman  It emphasizes that globalization is not an
independent phenomenon that takes
 supports and offers military assistance to
place in vacuum.
Germany
 While it affects that states, states also
 Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin
shape globalization.
 disagrees with Pres. Truman
 If globalization is a transformative
process that redefines the conceptions of
1950
state, sovereignty, and territory, and does
 People’s Republic of China vs. Republic of China
not necessarily replace them, then it is
(Taiwan)
better to think of the contemporary
system as global interstate system
1951 The Korean War
 United States made an ally with the South Korea
 Soviet Union made an alliance with North Korea
Sample Question
1. What is the role of the interstate system regarding
1956 Hungarian Revolution
the territorial disputes between the Philippines and
 Both U.S. and Soviet Union tried to make an
the rest of the countries in the world claiming the
alliance with two competing parties within the
Spratly Island, claiming the Sabah?
country having a civil war

1959 Cuban Revolution

 Socialism
 Fidel Castro
 M-26-7

1961
 US’ capitalism democracy vs. Soviet Union’s
socialism and communism
 space rockets: USA’s Gemini-Titan II vs. USSR’s
Vostok
 creation of the Berlin Wall