Chapter 2: The Evolution of the Interstate System and Alternative Global Political Systems I. Introduction II. Sovereignty A. Sovereignty B. The emergence of the European interstate system C. China: the Confucian empire D. Islam s founding and expansion A. As defined by the 1933 Montevideo convention 1. A permanent population 2. A defined terroritory 3. A government 4. The capacity to enter into relations with other states B. Internal face of sovereignty C. External face of sovereignty III. The emergence of the European interstate system A. The transition from Europe s Middle Ages 1. Europe s feudal system a. Social and economic structure (1) Hierarchy of relationships with the pope and Holy Roman emperor at the top, followed by nobles, then peasants (2) Political and economic systems were localized (3) Property rights were shared and overlapping (4) Inhabitants of Europe shared a common identity as Christians b. Political power (1) Overlapping secular and religious authority c. Military service (1) Knights rendered military service to lords in return for authority over peasants and land 1
(2) Knightly violence strangled trade, impoverished peasants, and weakened the kingdoms (3) The distinction between war and crime was blurred 2. The end of feudalism a. Urbanization b. Growing trade c. A new class of urban merchants (1) Sought security and freedom (2) Provided kings with the fiscal means to create their own armies B. Machiavelli s world: Italy s city-states 1. Appeared in 10th-century Italy 2. Each had its own ruler 3. Rivalries among rulers produced insecurity 4. Niccolò Machiavelli argued that to ensure their survival, rulers must follow a political morality different than that of average persons 5. City-states succumbed to larger territorial states as the dominant form of political organization a. They could not compete economically or militarily with larger rivals b. Large states used wealth to accumulate military power and military power to acquire more wealth C. On the road to sovereignty 1. State evolution accelerated with Europe s wars of religion following the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries 2. The Peace of Augsburg (1555) was the first legal effort to establish a peaceful coexistence between Catholics and Protestants a. The prince alone, as sovereign, could determine the religion of his subjects b. The Peace of Augsburg did not end religious controversy 3. In this context, Jean Bodin and Thomas Hobbes contemplated the idea of sovereignty 4. The Thirty Years War (1618 1648) was a critical moment in the development of sovereignty 2
a. Initially centered on religious animosity unleashed by the Protestant Reformation b. After 1635, political questions became paramount c. The war played an important role in the development of international law between, rather than above, states d. The war ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 (1) Recognized the two religions had to coexist (2) Limits had to be placed on war (3) Restored the Peace of Augsburg and granted sovereignty to Europe s states 5. From dynastic to popular sovereignty a. The sovereign state continued to evolve b. During the 18th century, states featured dynastic sovereignty (1) States were governed by conservative, absolutist monarchs who sought to increase their personal power and assure the future of their family dynasties (2) Princely and dynastic interests mattered more than national interests (3) France under the Sun King, Louis XIV (1638 1715) provides an example c. In this era, wars were fought for limited aims, especially territory (1) Kings wanted to increase wealth and stature, but avoid threats to their thrones (2) Kings had a common interest in respecting the principle of sovereignty (3) This period is frequently cited as a model by realists (a) Global politics was controlled by a small group of great powers (b) Foreign affairs remained in the hands of professional diplomats (c) Ideology was absent (d) Rulers regarded their domains as members of a European society of states (e) The central norm of the era was the balance of power 3
I. The only way to limit the power of expansive states was to confront them with equal or greater power II. Realists believe the balance of power was conducive to peace during this era, but they do disagree about what the balance of power actually meant III. European leaders believed it meant forming temporary alliances to ensure the survival of great powers, when threatened IV. Great powers had no permanent friends or enemies V. European leaders came to see it as an essential aspect of Europe s laws and customs VI. The balance of power contravened the norms of sovereignty in some respects A. it featured respect for the independence and rights of great powers B. it had no such respect for smaller states C. Balance-of-power rhetoric expressed the obligations that great powers were believed to owe one another when sovereignty alone provided inadequate protection VII. The balance of power is less relevant today for several reasons A. Balance-of-power theorists assume that there exists a state system of equivalent units and not a system consisting of different kinds of actors such as states, terrorist groups, and corporations B. There has to be a relatively equal distribution of power among a sufficient number of major actors to permit any of them to be stopped C. It must be possible to estimate precisely the distribution of military power 4
D. Actors must be ideologically compatible to join each other in flexible alliances E. For the balance to be preserved, diplomacy must be shielded from aroused publics and conducted by dispassionate professional diplomats who can negotiate with one another flexibly and make concessions when necessary VIII. The utility of the balance of power declined as the idea of monarchical absolutism yielded to popular control of states. IX. The most important event in the development of popular sovereignty was the French Revolution (1789 1799) X. Nations and Nationalism A. A nation is a group of people united by ties such as shared history, religion, blood or kinship, and language. B. Nationalism is the passionate desire on the part of such people to defend and glorify that group C. The spread of nationalism changed the world forever D. The French Revolution transformed the essential nature of states and nationalism spread across Europe E. With nationalism and industrialization, the size and intensity of wars expanded dramatically XI. France, under Napoleon Bonaparte, sought to export its ideas to the dynastic states of Europe XII. France came to be seen as a mortal threat to the remaining dynasties of Europe XIII. Following Napoleon s defeat in 1815, the leaders of Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Britain convened at the Congress of Vienna 5
IV. China: The Confucian Empire A. Imperial China A. They limited France to its 1792 borders, restored the French monarchy, and allowed France to rejoin the great powers B. They also created the Congress of Europe to step in when Europe s stability was threatened by aggression of one of the great powers or domestic revolution C. Four main conferences were held between 1815 and 1822 XIV. Increasingly, in 19th-century Europe nationalism and democracy challenged dynastic rule 1. China s outlook was built on the conviction that it was the center of the world and that the emperor was the ruler of the universe 2. The political universe was believed to be centrally and hierarchically organized. 3. All people were subject to China s emperor 4. The Chinese conceived the world as a series of concentric circles with China, the Middle Kingdom, at the center 5. China s government philosophy was strongly influenced by Confucius (551 479 BC) a. The quality of rulership depended on adherence to traditional moral principles b. It was believed that moral behavior would increase imperial power and produce harmony (not conflict) c. China s sense of superiority and its effort to isolate the empire from outsiders clashed with European, American, and Japanese expansionism, and China s ability to resist foreign penetration crumbled in the 19th century. 6. Asian versus Western values a. Western values (1) Unfettered capitalism (2) Individual self-realization (3) Limited government 6
(4) Political democracy b. Asian values V. Islam s founding and expansion A. The Caliphate (1) Many Asians see their values as different from those of the West (2) Stress obligations of individuals to the welfare and values of the community (3) In China and South Korea, Confucian norms remain influential in what foreign observers call New Confucianism or Confucian capitalism (a) Individuals are part of a complex system of human relations (b) Social life cannot be separated from family relations (c) The state should play a leading role in economic development and public welfare 1. Islam s great empire from 661 to 1258 2. Founded by Muhammad (571 632), following his death in 632 Islam spread all the way to Spain in the west and India in the east 3. The Caliphate was ruled by different dynasties a. The Ummayad dynasty (661 750) was centered in Damascus b. Islamic culture flourished under the Abbassid dynasty (750 1258), which was seated in Baghdad B. Cracks in the Islamic community 1. Islam s expansion was accompanied by political turmoil, especially over who should succeed Muhammad 2. The Caliphate was a substitute for Muhammad to protect the religion 3. The first four Caliphs, the rightly guided Caliphs, ruled according to the Koran and the practices of Muhammad 4. Thereafter, Islam divided into two factions, Sunni and Shia a. Shias believed that Muhammad s son-in-law, Ali, was the last legitimate caliph and that the Caliphate should pass down only through his descendants 7
b. Shias believe Ali s last descendant, his son Hussein, did not die but is hidden and will ultimately return c. Sunnis did not demand that the caliph be a direct descendant of Muhammad and were also willing to follow Arabic tribal customs in government d. Political leadership was in the hands of the Muslim community C. Islam and Christendom: the crusades 1. Clashes between Muslims and western Europeans continued during Europe s crusades (1095 1271) to regain the Holy Land for Christianity 2. The First Crusade (1095 1097) was called by Pope Urban II to retake Jerusalem from Muslims 3. Jerusalem was retaken and a Christian military presence lasted for about 200 years 4. The Second (1147 1149) and Third (1189 1192) Crusades ended in failure. 5. The Third Crusade, the most famous, was the last serious effort to wrest the Holy Land from Muslim control. D. The Ottoman Empire Islam versus the West 1. The Ottomans were a small Turkish tribe that arose in Anatolia after 1071 and were granted a small territory within the Islamic Empire 2. In 1301, they seized power from the Seljuks and ruled the new empire until it was dismembered in 1922 3. The Ottoman Empire expanded vigorously into Christian lands in the 14th century 4. After a period of weakness in the early 15th century, it expanded again into the Byzantium Empire, capturing Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453 5. In the early 16th century, it expanded still further into eastern Anatolia, northern Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Iran, and Europe 6. The Empire began to weaken in the late 16th century and European interference in Ottoman provinces grew 7. The Ottomans began to withdraw from Europe in 1699, and Ottoman Turks were slowly expelled or withdrew from Russia, Egypt, Iran, Greece, and the Balkans 8. The last Ottoman Sultan ruled from 1918 1922 8
VI. Conclusion 9. The Turkish Republic was declared in October 1923 and Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) became the new country s first president 10. The part of the empire located in the Middle East was divided up among the victors of World War I 11. Ataturk established a modern, secular Turkish territorial state in place of the sultanate A. Evolution of the territorial state B. The Chinese tribute state C. The Islamic Caliphate 9