Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables, figures and boxes
- Contributors
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Guide to online instructor resources
- Introduction: The origins and changing agendas of international relations
- Part 1 Theories of International Relations
- Part 2 International history
- Part 3 The traditional agenda: States, wars and law
- Chapter 12 The modern state
- Chapter 13 Nations and nationalism
- Chapter 14 Security
- Chapter 15 Arms control and disarmament
- Chapter 16 The ethics and laws of war
- Chapter 17 International law
- Chapter 18 Diplomacy
- Chapter 19 The United Nations
- Part 4 The new agenda: Globalisation and global challenges
- References
- Index
- Figure and text acknowledgements
Chapter 12 - The modern state
from Part 3 - The traditional agenda: States, wars and law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: aN Invalid Date NaN
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables, figures and boxes
- Contributors
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Guide to online instructor resources
- Introduction: The origins and changing agendas of international relations
- Part 1 Theories of International Relations
- Part 2 International history
- Part 3 The traditional agenda: States, wars and law
- Chapter 12 The modern state
- Chapter 13 Nations and nationalism
- Chapter 14 Security
- Chapter 15 Arms control and disarmament
- Chapter 16 The ethics and laws of war
- Chapter 17 International law
- Chapter 18 Diplomacy
- Chapter 19 The United Nations
- Part 4 The new agenda: Globalisation and global challenges
- References
- Index
- Figure and text acknowledgements
Summary
This chapter introduces the principal actor in international relations: the sovereign state. First, it defines the state. Second, it explores the origins of the state in the transition from the medieval to the modern world. Third, it examines the concept of sovereignty, especially as it was articulated in early modern political thought. Fourth, it surveys different historical explanations of how the sovereign state triumphed over alternative forms of political society. Finally, it outlines some of the continuing debates about the modern state.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- An Introduction to International Relations , pp. 168 - 180Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024