Tributary systems

Abstract

Abstract The tributary system is a term used by historians and social scientists to characterize premodern relations between empires and weaker states. The general assumption is that Western European countries transcended this political form with the inauguration of state‐to‐state relations following the Peace of Westphalia. Since the 1970s, the Chinese tributary system has come to stand for this form of “unequal” international relations. Seldom, however, have scholars applied it to the forms of relations that emerged in European empires in the 19th century, nor to American foreign relations after World War II. More recently, scholars of international relations have found the Chinese tribute system model useful in discussing asymmetrical relations of power and cultural elements that make up aspects of international relations.