Unit 1: Power, sovereignty and international relations

A brief history of
sovereignty
Syllabus objectives
Re-cap

What is a nation?
What is a state?
What is a multi-nation state?
What is a stateless nation?
Have we always had
sovereign states?
Actors
• Every day, the behaviour of individuals affects
how trends in the world will unfold
• But individuals exert even more influence
through communities and organisations

Without the consent of individuals,

we wouldn’t have states.
What are our basic needs?

- How have humans shared and/or competed to

fulfill their needs?
- How have humans created alliances and
groups to enhance their protection?

We call this mutual gain.

Globally, almost all peoples and
places are part of states.

How did we transition from

smaller communities to the
states that we have today.?
History: Peace of Westphalia, 1648
The modern nation state system is normally traced through
European history to the Peace treaty of Westphalia in 1648.

Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War:

The war was mostly over religion, internal politics, and
territory.
The Holy Roman Empire (House of Habsburg)
vs.
Protestant countries: Sweden, France, England, Denmark-
Norway, etc.

Task: read and highlight the extract from the The

Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace
Community organisation
• Prior to the reformation, most Europeans lived in a
fiefdoms and principalities, but considered themselves
belonging to a larger Christian commonwealth led by the
Pope

• Following Thirty Years War, this medieval vertical order

was replaced by a horizontal system of autonomous
states that recognized no higher authority:

All states possessed same legal rights:

• Sole jurisdiction over their territory
• Unrestricted control over domestic affairs
• Freedom to engage in foreign relations with other
powers
Terms of the agreement
1) each prince has the right to determine the religion of his
own state, and exclusive rights over the land, people,
and agents abroad

2) Inception of international law; no more pretensions of

transnational, religious or political unity

3) beginning of embassies, alliances and other elements

of modern diplomacy

4) greater regularity and predictability in international

relations – better of sense of who the players are on an
ongoing basis
Concept of sovereignty
1) No overarching institution had the authority to regulate
state conduct

2) States hold the monopoly of legitimate organised

violence. The use of force by the state is divided into law
enforcement (within the state) and war (outside the state)

3) Anarchy became core organizing principle of Westphalia

rather than Hierarchy

What do we mean by anarchy?

Europe after the Treaty of Westphalia
 Although we can trace nation
states to 1648, modern states
are much younger than this.

Name the most recent nation-

state that has been recognised
by the international community.
Check for European
bias in our course
European bias and sovereignty
Although our IB Global Politics syllabus refers specifically to the
Peace of Westphalia and our reading for this class focuses on
European thinkers, the history of sovereignty is much deeper
and more global.
In 1958, Ilyas Ahmad wrote:

He then presented a number of Islamic thinkers and their

writings of sovereignty.
One example from Ilaya Ahmad

Rule of law

States hold the monopoly of

legitimate organised violence.

No overarching institution had the authority to

regulate state conduct
Continued….

I encourage you to read the full-text as a reminder of how global politics is

dominated by European and North-American thinkers.
It will also give you much more knowledge for any essay which includes the
concept of sovereignty.
Alternative critical source
Read this university postgraduate essay
for a critical account of how the Treaty of
Westphalia has been mis-used by
international relations academics.

https://www.e-ir.info/2014/02/03/how-we
stphalian-is-the-westphalian-model/
Homework:

When did your nation become a nation state?

How did it happen?

● Awarded status
● Voted independence
● Other

When were its borders fixed?