Module 4: The Global Interstate System

• States are independent political communities

  each of which possesses a government and

  asserts sovereignty in relation to a particular

  portion of the earth’s surface and a particular

  segment of the human population. (Hedley Bull)
• Interstate - It is a system of unequally powerful and competing

  states in which no single state is capable of

  imposing control on all others. These states are in

  interaction with one another in a set of shifting

  alliances and wars and changes in the relative

  power of states upsets any temporary set of

  alliances, leading to restructuring of the balance of power
• Neoliberalism - The intensification of the influence and dominance

  of capital

  • Values market exchange capable of acting as a

  guide to all human action

  • Emphasizes the significance of contractual

  relations in the marketplace

  • Social good will be maximized by maximizing the

  reach and frequency of market transactions
• Economic Sovereignty - the power of national governments to make

  decisions independently of those made by

  other governments
• aims to phase out the

  production of

  numerous substances

  responsible for ozone

  depletion, signed on

  August 26, 1987, with

  46 country signatories.
• Global Network - One country’s scale and scope are

  limited in addressing regional and global issues like

  climate change, cybercrimes, global financial crises,

  and territorial disputes.
• Non-state actors - The increase in the number of

  international organizations and the

  expansion of their functions have

  undeniably restricted an individual

  country’s sovereignty to a certain extent.
• United Nations - 192 member states

  • seen as the facilitator of global governance
• World Bank - is an international development organization owned

  by 187 countries. Its role is to reduce poverty by

  lending money to the governments of its poorer

  members to improve their economies and improve

  the standard of living of their people