Types of State and International Theory

Abstract

The first part of this book demonstrated how various ‘international’ forces have helped shape three different types of state in the present international system. Subsequent chapters analysed the specific security dilemmas and the peculiar sovereignty games pertaining to the modern, the postcolonial, and the postmodern state respectively. The coexistence of qualitatively different types of state in the system is a challenge to IR-theory. How well can existing theories of international relations account for the emergence of different types of state? In what ways are the assumptions, the core contentions, and the strategic recommendations of existing theories challenged by an international system containing three different main types of state? These questions will be addressed with respect to five different major theories or clusters of theories of IR: realism, liberalism, the English school, neomarxist international political economy, and constructivism. Before entering this discussion, it should be noted that the present analysis is in agreement with the major IR-theories when it comes to maintaining analytical focus on the sovereign state. As indicated in Chapter 1, a singleminded focus on states either ‘winning’ or ‘losing’ in relation to other actors tends to misconstrue the debate because the transformation of sovereign statehood means that the state can be both ‘winning’ and ‘losing’ simultaneously.KeywordsSovereign StateViolent ConflictInternational OrderEnglish SchoolState EliteThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.