History of the Nation State

Practice flashcards covering the vocabulary and historical context of international relations and the evolution of the nation-state system.

International Relations (IR)

The study of the interactions of state and non-state actors in international politics.

State

A sovereign territory controlled by a government.

International system

The relationships and interactions among states.

The collective action problem

The challenge of getting countries to forgo their individual interests in favor of collective interests, such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Dominance

A solution to the collective action problem based on a hierarchy of power where the powerful control the less powerful and force contributions to the common good.

Reciprocity

A solution to the collective action problem that involves rewarding actors who contribute and punishing those who do not.

Identity

A solution to the collective action problem that involves changing states' preferences and beliefs to prefer the common good so that people want to contribute to the collective.

Nation state

A sovereign state whose citizens have a common identity and are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.

Ancient Greece ($500 - 100\text{ BC}$)

The historical period and location of the first manifestation of a state system, characterized by a collection of city-states.

Medieval Era

The period from the $5\text{th}$ to the $15\text{th}$ Century where Europe was split into the Medieval Catholic empire in Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe.

Byzantine Empire

The empire located in Eastern Europe during the Medieval Era, centered in Constantinople (Istanbul).

Thirty Years War ($1618 - 1648$)

Europe's first continental war between sovereign states that started as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics.

Peace of Westphalia ($1648$)

The meetings that ended the Thirty Years War and established definitive borders, non-intervention in domestic affairs, and the modern international world order.

Hegemony

The dominance of one country over others.

Congress of Vienna ($1814/1815$)

An attempt to re-establish peace in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars that is credited with creating $100$ years of peace.

Multipolar

A system where power in the international system is distributed among at least $3$ major players.

Bipolarity

A system where power is concentrated between two major players, such as the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War.

Cold War

An ideological war between capitalism and communism involving an arms race and the building of nuclear stockpiles.

Unipolar

An international system where one state is the dominant power, such as the U.S. after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.