Chapter 2: The Emergence of a Global System of States, 1500-today

EQ: How did a fragmented world become a global, integrated system of states for which order is an ongoing problem?

The world in 1500

• The world was not divided into states like we see today. Instead, empires were the primary political division.

• Empires existed in China, Japan, India, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

• Feudalism and wars for dominance ultimately unintentionally gave rise to the modern state system, codified with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.

Imperialism and the pursuit of empire

• From ~1500 until ~1900, European states competed for control over most of the rest of the world, including the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

• The pursuit of global empire was driven largely by mercantilism- the doctrine that states should seek power, power is driven by wealth, and worldwide wealth is fixed.

• Mercantilism led states to pursue imperialism, or the conquering of foreign lands to found colonies.

The world in 1900

• Imperialism and resistance to imperialism were largely responsible for shaping the international system of 1900.

• Japan has successfully resisted European imperialism, the United States had gained its independence, and the Ottoman Empire, though weakened, retained control over the Middle East.

• In Europe, states were still competing for power. The transition from 1500 to the modern system was nearly complete, but the world was on the brink of war.

The path to World War I

• World War I was primarily a European war, and has its origins in three root issues in Europe.

• First, European leaders created alliances that instilled fear and suspicion in foreign leaders, including the formation of the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente.

• Second, European leaders underestimated the difficulties of winning a war. Positive illusions, like those demonstrated by the Schlieffen plan, were common.

• Third, in 1914, European leaders lost control of a regional crisis that began in the Balkans.

World War I

• World War I was unlike any war ever fought up to that point, and was termed ‘the war to end all wars.’

• Four years of brutal trench warfare left 8.5 million soldiers dead and 21 million more wounded, plus several million civilians dead or wounded.

• Eventually, Britain, France, Russia, and the United States defeated the Central Powers.

• The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, placed crippling punitive demands on Germany, dismantled the Ottoman Empire, and created several new European States.

Peace efforts after World War I

• Following World War I, numerous efforts were made to ensure a lasting peace.

• At Versailles, the Allies also established the League of Nations, the first major attempt at international collective security.

• The Dawes Plan was implemented to mitigate the Ruhr Crisis and ease tensions between France and Germany.

• The 1925 Locarno Accords further aided in easing tensions in Europe, primarily by settling border disputes.

• In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawed war permanently.

• During this same period, trade returned to pre-WWI levels.

Peace efforts after World War I (cont.)

The path to World War II

• Unfortunately, these noble efforts at world peace ultimately failed.

• In 1929, the U.S. stock market crashed, triggering the Great Depression.

• In the later 1920s and early 1930s, dictators consolidated their power in Italy, the Soviet Union, Germany, and Japan.

• The League of Nations was incapable of providing the security it hoped to provide for its members, and those same dictators were able to launch campaigns of conquest.

• After appeasement in Europe failed, Hitler invaded Poland and plunged the world back into global war.

The path to World War II (cont.)

World War II

• World War II was even more catastrophic than World War I. Over sixty million people, or 2.5 percent of the world’s population were killed.

• Nazi Germany killed over six million Jews in the Holocaust, the worst genocide the world has ever seen.

World War II (cont.)

• While the Axis Powers initially looked posed to win, Hitler’s decision to turn on the Soviet Union and Japan’s decision to bomb Pearl Harbor in the United States turned the Soviet Union against Germany and brought the United States into the war.

• In 1945, Hitler surrendered in Berlin and, a few months later, Japan surrendered after the devastating atomic bomb attacks by the United States.

The Cold War

• At the end of World War II, Europe was absolutely crippled.

• The international system quickly became polarized between the world’s two new competing superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Cold War (cont.)

• Both the United States and the Soviet Union had large nuclear arsenals and, since the terrifying effects of nuclear weapons had been demonstrated against Japan in 1945, each side knew the danger of nuclear war.

• Due to the dangers of nuclear war, the two sides instead competed via proxy wars and a competition for international influence via institutions like NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the newly formed United Nations.

• The nuclear standoff lasted until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

‘The View from the South’

• The international system was also transformed by the process of decolonization following World War II. With European economies devastated, Europe moved to get rid of its colonies and, combined with a rise in nationalistic struggles for independence, numerous new countries came into existence.

• These countries tended to be very poor, with little international influence.

‘The View from the South’ (cont.)

• In 1955, several of these countries banded together in the Non-Aligned Movement in an attempt to band together for greater international influence while avoiding the spheres of influence of either major world power.

• A variety of other attempts by poorer states to band together, such as the G-77, UNCTAD, and OPEC, have met with differing degrees of success.

The contemporary international order

• The Cold War finally came to an end in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• After 1991, the United States was left as the world’s sole superpower, but never achieved global omnipotence.

Traits of the contemporary international order

• Globalization has created a deeply integrated, interdependent trade network worldwide.

• Nuclear weapons have now spread to nine total states, changing the face of global conflict.

• The appeal of democratization has led to numerous revolutions in recent years, most notably coming out of the Arab Spring of 2011.

Traits of the contemporary international order (cont.)

• Much of Europe has banded together in the European Union, one of the most notable efforts of supernational cooperation ever.

• Terrorism now plagues much of the world.