Andrew Scott of the University of North Carolina, defines it thus:

“a set of components with identifiable attributes, among which patterned relationships persist over a period of time.”(Scott, 1967 pp 27)

So the international system is, at its most abstract level, just like any other system. It is made up of parts, some more significant than others, interacting with each other to produce an outcome. In the international political system, these parts are nation states, international organisations, and several other entities that have power on an international level.

Despite appearances, there is not anarchy in the global system. Nations have to follow certain international rules, and while these can in many cases be ignored or bent, there are conventions and norms of behaviour that will usually not be tolerated by the world system. The most important of these is that nations are not allowed to invade and occupy other nations except for very good reasons – indeed; the Sovereign state is inviolable, sacrosanct. (Knorr & Verba, 1961

This seems like an extremely complex, organic system – but how did this all come about? The international system as we know it was a long time coming, starting from very humble beginnings thousands of years ago. Probably the beginnings could be traced back to the very first tribes of Homo Sapiens that roamed the earth, trading and more than likely warring with the other tribes, but realistically perhaps we see the first signs of a true international system a bit more recently than that. These are some moments through history that have had significant effects on the development of this system:

Are there any other forces that have international power? A case could be made that international movements have real and growing power. These movements, often political or religious in nature, may not be organised or centrally controlled in the same way that NGO’s are, but they can still put pressure on national governments. For example, in recent years the Chinese authorities have cracked down on members of the Fulan Gong religious sect. In previous decades this may well have gone unnoticed, especially in countries outside the immediate region. However, now there are Fulan Gong movements worldwide trying to influence world opinion. Other, more powerful movements include the anti capitalist movement, militant Islam, and political movements such as the freedom for Palestine pressure group.

Besides sovereign states, there are also International organisations. There are a number of different varieties of these – supranational organisations such as the European Union that are made up of a number of sovereign states (Viotti & kauppi, 1987 pp 212), and organisations like the world bank that are in theory independent of any national control yet can influence or enforce nation states to do things.

Besides nation states, and international organisations, there are other players that have power in the international system. Multinational corporations can influence, even force countrie’s economic and political policies. We can see this in the globalisation of production, where large companies have moved production to underdeveloped nations where manufacturing is cheaper. (Viotti & kauppi, 1987 pp 351) These nations often have to go out of their way to accommodate these companies.

Some topics in this essay:
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