The state and the nation: changing norms and the rules of sovereignty in international relations

1994 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Samuel Barkin ◽  
Bruce Cronin

The international relations literature regularly embraces sovereignty as the primary constitutive rule of international organization. Theoretical traditions that agree on little else all seem to concur that the defining feature of the modern international system is the division of the world into sovereign states. Despite differences over the role of the state in international affairs, most scholars would accept John Ruggie's definition of sovereignty as “the institutionalization of public authority within mutually exclusive jurisdictional domains.” Regardless of the theoretical approach however, the concept tends to be viewed as a static, fixed concept: a set of ideas that underlies international relations but is not changed along with them. Moreover, the essence of sovereignty is rarely defined; while legitimate authority and territoriality are the key concepts in understanding sovereignty, international relations scholars rarely examine how definitions of populations and territories change through-out history and how this change alters the notion of legitimate authority.

Author(s):  
Fox Hazel

This chapter addresses the State as the prime actor in the conduct of diplomacy and examines the State’s status as a legal person as defined by international law. To understand the role of the State in international affairs, it is essential to appreciate that it is both a maker and a subject of international law. It has been and continues to be instrumental in the formation of public international law. The chapter thus presents four topics to explain the nature and scope of the powers and activities of the State in international affairs. These are: the qualifications for statehood, recognition of the State as a member of the international community, the State compared to an international organization as a legal person and other entities having lesser rights in international law, and sovereignty as an attribute of the State.


2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-845
Author(s):  
André Donneur ◽  
Onnig Beylerian

Theoretical studies of foreign policy show that the very subject of the discipline is highly undefined. This is the reason why we shall try, first and foremost, to provide an answer to three fundamental questions. Is there a natural difference between foreign policy and decision-making, or is foreign policy only a sum total of decisions? Is there a difference between a foreign policy which dictates the major general trends and the various policies which apply to restricted scenes of action ? What is the difference between the objectives which actors assign to various policies and their implementation in the international System, thus making their evaluation a problem ? We then deal with the state of studies entered upon by three schools of thought and set down the results registered by the behaviorist trend, the theoretical dilemma it had to face and the dead end it led to. The second trend, historical and political, has, for its part, dealt with comparative analysis of historical cases according to the method of localized and structured comparison. Finally, the third trend, historical, economical and structuralist, has resorted to the world System paradigm of I. Wallerstein. The problem of this paradigm is the transposition of the debate between the supporters of the Annales school (structural serial history, economical and social contingencies) and the historians of international relations (who favour history of events and the role of the state). This approach also focuses on the debate about the dichotomy international relations/transnational relations. In the ends, rigorous and interdisciplinary research studies is deemed necessary for the promotion of studies in foreign policy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Diana Shkuropadska

Research the tools for ensuring resilience of the financial corporations sector is relevant, given the fact that the development of the world economy is increasingly subject to the shock influences, to which financial crises are imposed. The aim of the article is to identify and justify macroeconomic tools according to the directions for ensuring resilience of the financial corporations sector. The theoretical-methodological base of the article is scientific works of scientists and reports of international organizationsfor directions and tools for ensuring resilience of the financial corporations sector and the economy in general. The general approaches and research methods have been used at preparing the article: theoretical generalization, analysis, synthesis and system method. The use of these methods allowed to consider approaches of leading international audit companies to understand the concept “resilience of the financial corporations”. On this basis, there was suggested the author's definition of the concept “resilience of the financial corporations sector” and defined it essential characteristics. It was explained, that the process of ensuring resilience of the financial corporations sector involves the implementation of macroeconomic tools in accordance with the following areas: the introduction of economic stimulus packages, attractive lending conditions, tax and investment benefits, promoting innovation, development of compensation mechanisms, international financial support. The important attention in the study was paid to the role of the state in the process of implementing macroeconomic tools for ensuring resilience of the financial corporations sector. Attention is focused on the fact, that under shock influences the state should implement macroeconomic tools in line with current problems in the development of the financial corporations sector. This in turn will ensure its profitability at a level sufficient for normal functioning.


Author(s):  
Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste

This chapter proposes the practice of nation branding as a political technology, as an example of neoliberalism in which the definition of national identity, previously assessed primarily by the social sciences and humanities, becomes the domain of business managers and advertising executives, thanks to technologies associated with social media. It explains how the redefinition of social goods, the role of the state, and the role of experts entail the replacement of a more socially driven understanding of identity with an act of commercial prestidigitation by way of nation branding; the pertinent state entities are replaced by advertising and image consultancy firms; and, lastly, scholars of various disciplines are replaced by advertising and PR executives. In short, following neoliberalism, identity is reinterpreted as brand. Identity no longer results from the never-ending and instantaneous negotiation between a multiplicity of parties, representative of myriad aspects relevant to the configuration of individuals and communities, but is rendered instead as the quantifiable, concrete result of a variety of transactions. Through this reformulation, a new relationship is suggested between the idea of nation as imagined community and the reality of the state as a material expression of the concept of nation.


1993 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Simpson

This article examines the trajectory of the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo), currently the ruling party in Mozambique, focusing on the complex interplay between various factors which contributed to the metamorphoses it has undergone since its founding in 1962. Recent work in the field of international relations and historical sociology has thrown light on the rôle of the state as an administrative-coercive entity constantly cross-pressured by domestic and foreign forces, and acting simultaneously on both fronts in pursuit of advantage. While this scholarship has not focused on ruling parties per se, it is arguable that the standard government versus state dichotomy is of limited analytical value in cases such as Mozambique, where the distinction between party and state remained in practice, until recently, a constitutional nicety. When the ruling party has been institutionalised to the extent of Frelimo, and where the state has become almost an extension of the party, it is the latter that is the key variable in any explanation of political and economic change within society.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Syahrul Salam, Adi Rio Arianto, Rizky Hikmawan

<p><strong>Abstrak – </strong>Kemajuan teknologi, khususnya dibidang informasi, transportasi, dan sains, telah<strong> </strong>menciptakan evolusi peran negara sebagai aktor Hubungan Internasional (HI). Negara harus berbagi peran dengan aktor HI lainnya, seperti: organisasi internasional (OI), organisasi pemerintah/ non-pemerintah (IGOs/NGOs), kelompok epistemik, perusahaan multinasional (MNCs), dan individu. Pergeseran peran negara dalam usaha membela negara mengubah warna disiplin ilmu HI, yaitu pendekatannya. Kajian ini mendalami pergeseran peran negara dan implikasinya bagi sudut pandang HI, serta mengkaji evolusi lingkungan strategis. Hasil studi menemukan bahwa selain negara, universitas adalah salah satu calon aktor HI. Hal ini diidentifikasi melalui empat aspek berikut, yaitu: (1) aspek bela negara menuntut peran sentral (mayor) dan peran sektoral (minor) negara sebagai subyek HI dimana negara berbagi peran dengan Universitas, (2) aspek bela negara mempengaruhi pendekatan Realisme dengan perilaku anarkisnya bergeser ke pendekatan alternatif: Horizontalisme dengan perilaku gotong-royongnya, (3) aspek bela negara menuntut perubahan lingkungan strategis dari Era Global (Globalisasi) ke Era Horizontal (Horizontalisasi) atau dengan istilah “Globalinium”, dan (4) aspek bela negara menjadi krusial saat disandingkan dengan kepentingan nasional di pentas Internasional.</p><p><strong>Kata Kunci : </strong>bela negara, hubungan internasional, era horizontal, globalinium, negara, universitas</p><p><strong><em>Abstract – </em></strong><em>The development of technological in the fields of information, transportation, and science,<strong> </strong>have created the evolution of the role of the state as an actor of International Relations (IRs). States should share roles with other IRs actors, such as international organizations (IO), government/ non-governmental organizations (IGOs / NGOs), epistemic groups, multinational corporations (MNCs), and individuals. The shifting role of the state in the effort to defend a state changed the color of the discipline of IRs, particularly in its approach. This study explores the shifting role of the state and its implications to IRs paradigm, and examines the evolution of the strategic environment. The results found that beside the “state”, the “university” can be one of the IRs actors. This is identified through the following four aspects: (1) the state defense aspect demands the major role and the minor role of the state as the subject of IRs in which the State shares its role with the university, (2) the state defense aspect affects the Realism approach with the anarchy shifts to alternative approaches: Horizontalism </em><em>with its “gotong-royong”, (3) the state defending aspect demands a strategic environmental change from the Global Era (Globalization) to the Horizontal Era (Horizontalization) or with the term “Globalinium”, and (4) the state defending aspect were crucial when it juxtaposed with national interests on the international stage.</em></p><p><em><strong><em>Keywords: </em></strong><em>state defending, international relations, horizontal era, globalinium, state, university</em></em></p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (525) ◽  
pp. 336-340
Author(s):  
I. V. Yahodenko ◽  
◽  
O. D. Hordei ◽  

The article is aimed at disclosing the economic essence of the concept of «the State-based financial control», defining and analyzing the current status of the State-based financial control in Ukraine. The article analyzes the opinions of scholars on the definition of the conceptual apparatus of the research topic and derives a theoretical understanding of the State-based financial control. The issue of building an effective unified system of the State-based financial control is researched. The analysis of legislation norms on the implementation of the State-based financial control is carried out. The opinions of leading scholars who study the problems of control over the effective use of both the State and the local budgets together with reforms in this area are taken into account. The current status of the State-based financial control in the country is analyzed, a number of problems within the system are outlined. The characteristic shortcomings of functioning of the elements of the State-based control system are outlined (absence of a unified concept for the development of the State-based financial control, deepening of the powers of regulatory authorities, presence of a large number of normative legal acts, their outdatedness and inconsistency), the inadmissibility of duplication of control functions is emphasized. The role of the State-based audit in the formation of the successful State-based financial control in the country is determined. The risks that influence the formation of the State-based financial control are analyzed. It is concluded that the system of the State-based financial control in Ukraine does not have sufficient legal, informational, organizational, communicative, institutional and methodological provision that would meet the modern challenges of the country’s economy. Solving the problems of organization and functioning of the State-based financial control is possible by systematically improving the activities of financial control bodies, increasing the level of audit and continuous improvement of the management system within the organizations of regulatory authorities.


Author(s):  
John M. Owen IV

Liberalism has always been concerned with security, albeit the security of the individual; institutions, including the state, are all established and sustained by individuals and instrumental to their desires. Indeed, liberalism cannot be understood apart from its normative commitment to individualism. The tradition insists that all persons deserve, and it evaluates institutions according to how far they help individuals achieve these goals. Nor is liberalism anti-statist. Liberal theory has paid particular attention to the state as the institution defined by its ability to make individuals secure and aid their commodious living. Although liberal security literature that only examines individual states’ foreign policies may be guilty of denouncing the role of international interaction, the general liberal claim argues that the international system, under broad conditions, permits states choices. As such, for liberalism, states can choose over time to create and sustain international conditions under which they will be more or less secure. Liberalism’s history can be traced from the proto-liberalism in the Reformation to the emergence of the social contract theory and neo-theories, as well as liberalism’s focus on increasing security. Meanwhile, current debates in liberalism include the democratic peace and its progeny, reformulations of liberal international relations (IR) theory, and meta-theory. Ultimately, liberalism’s most striking recent successes concern the democratic peace and related research on democratic advantages in international cooperation. Liberalism is a useful guide to international security insofar as individuals and the groups they organize affect or erode states.


2009 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-605
Author(s):  
Paul S. Rowe

AbstractAn increasing concern for the place of religion in global politics in the past decade is reflected in the work of William Cavanaugh, a political theologian coming from the radical orthodox movement of the Roman Catholic tradition. Taking aim at key tropes in international relations, Cavanaugh introduces a strong critique of the legitimacy of the state and against its martial attitude. This review questions the historicity and generalizability of Cavanaugh's analysis. It also challenges Cavanaugh's exaltation of the church from both an internal and external perspective. Finally, it considers the expanded role of the state as compared to Cavanaugh's vision of the martial state. By way of conclusion, it questions the extent to which Cavanaugh provides an alternative to consigning religious groups to civil society or a workable role for Christian engagement with global politics, even though he provides us with a strong critique of the state.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2249
Author(s):  
Yingmin Huang ◽  
Desheng Xue ◽  
Gengzhi Huang

This paper is engaged with the critical perspective that highlights the role of the state in the production of urban informality by examining the dynamics of informal land-use practices in Dongguan, China since 1978. Based on in-depth interviews and archival analysis, the relationship between informal land development, the state, and land institution change has been revealed. Our findings show that informal land development is practiced by village collectives from below in Dongguan as a response to the absence and limitation of the national land law. The local government handles the informality in a pragmatic way that serves the goal of economic development in different historical conditions by actions of encouraging, tolerating, and authorizing, suggesting that the definition of informality is not a neutral classification. It is argued that while informality represents people’s creativity in dealing with practical problems, when and to what extent it can be tolerated, formalized, and absorbed depends on the intention of the state in a specific historical context.


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