Summary of International Relations Theories and Global Politics
International Relations Theories & Global Politics Explained
Introduction
This study guide examines how different political forms — city-leagues, city-states, and sovereign territorial states — shaped migration, empire, and economic life. We focus on why the sovereign territorial state came to dominate, how identity and recognition influenced national action, and how colonialism and industrialization changed global migration dynamics.
Definition: A sovereign territorial state is a political unit with central authority over a defined territory and recognized control over those inside its borders.
1. Why the territorial state prevailed
Breakdown of the main advantages that allowed sovereign territorial states to outcompete city-leagues and city-states.
1.1 Centralization of jurisdiction and authority
- Territorial states centralized legal and fiscal powers across a contiguous territory.
- Centralization allowed standardization of economic practices:
- coinage
- weights and measures
Definition: Standardization is the process of making systems uniform so that transactions and administration become more efficient.
Practical effect: Reduced internal transaction costs, which rationalized markets and encouraged larger-scale trade and investment.
1.2 Improved capacity to wage war
- Territorial states could marshal larger, regular armies and tax bases.
- Military capability reinforced state authority and territorial control, making borders meaningful and defensible.
1.3 Sovereign territoriality as a device for structuring inter-unit relations
- Territoriality clarified who was inside versus outside a polity and what behavior was expected of those inside.
- Clear boundaries improved the ability to make credible commitments with other units (treaties, alliances).
Definition: Credible commitment means a promise or agreement that other actors judge believable because the institutional structure makes reneging costly or unlikely.
Practical example: Diplomatic treaties between states that defined borders and trade terms were easier to enforce when signatories controlled defined territories and central revenue systems.
2. Identity, national interest and recognition
This section treats how narratives of national interest and identity shaped state action and migration policies (a social-constructive view of state motivations).
- States produce narratives that define who belongs and who does not.
- Recognition by other states reinforced internal identities and external legitimacy.
Definition: Recognition is the act by which a polity acknowledges another polity’s sovereignty and legitimacy in the international system.
Practical example: Newly independent states sought diplomatic recognition to secure trade agreements and foreign investment; lack of recognition limited their international agency.
3. Migration, globalization, and the mismatch with sedentary states
- Globalization increased mobility: migrations, transnational labor, and deterritorialised capital flows challenge fixed territorial governance.
- The traditional sedentary nation-state can struggle to regulate or incorporate nomadic or highly mobile populations and capital.
Definition: Deterritorialised capital is money and investment that can move across borders quickly, less tied to any single national economy.
Practical example: Remittance flows from migrant workers cross national borders without changing the governments that regulate the sending or receiving states.
4. Colonialism, industrialization and racialized migration policies
4.1 The Mayflower myth and settler narratives
- Founding myths such as the Mayflower story often portray
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State, Empire & Migration
Klíčové pojmy: Sovereign territorial states centralized law, tax and administration to reduce internal transaction costs., Standardization of coinage, weights and measures enabled larger markets and economic rationalization., Territorial states had superior war-making capacity, reinforcing control and borders., Sovereign territoriality clarified who was inside/outside and made commitments more credible., Recognition by other states granted practical diplomatic and economic benefits., Globalization creates deterritorialised capital and transnational labor that challenge sedentary states., Colonialism and industrialization transformed migration by embedding racial hierarchies into policy., Founding myths (e.g., the Mayflower) often obscure dispossession in settler colonial contexts., Racialized misreadings of Darwin influenced exclusionary immigration laws in the 19th century., City-leagues and city-states offered alternative institutions but lacked scale to dominate militarily or economically.