Nations
International Relations Actors in International Relations Nations
Introduction to Nations
The nations themselves are the most important actors in international relations. A nation is a territory with a defined border and a government that answers to no higher authority than its own. All or part of the population shares a group identity, often based on a combination of common ancestry, language, or culture. In 1997 there were 186 recognized nations in the world. There also are a number of political entities sometimes thought of as nations. These include territories that function independently, such as Taiwan, which is officially considered a province of China; colonies, such as Martinique; and nations that are not yet recognized, such as Palestine. Also included in this list is Vatican City, which does not fit into any of these categories.
Nations vary in size and power-from the United States with a $7 trillion economy and China with more than 1 billion people to nations with fewer than 100,000 people, such as Andorra and Greenland. Size and power are two important variables in determining a nation’s relationships with other countries and its influence in international affairs. The handful of the most powerful nations that control most of the world’s military and economic strength are called great powers. The great powers include the United States, Great Britain, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), France, China, Germany, and Japan. These powers are the most important actors in international relations. ” (1)
How the Conception of a Family of Nations Arose
Lassa Oppenheim, in the book entitled The Future of International Law, about How the Conception of a Family of Nations Arose, wrote in 1921: 3. The idea of an international community of law could not have obtained acceptance before a time when there existed a number of completely independent states, internally akin in virtue of a community of intensive civilization and continually brought into contact with one another by a lively intercourse. It was in this way that an international community of law was begotten at the end of the middle ages out of Christian civilization and mutual intercourse. Grotius and his forerunners would not have been able to create international law, had not the conception of a community of law between Christian states enjoyed a general recognition, and had not international intercourse before their day evolved already a large number of rules of intercourse, which were based on custom and in part on very ancient usages.
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Nations in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
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