Six Actors on an International Stage
Samuel Soto
Craig Greathouse
Political Science 2401
September 22, 2014
Six Actors on an International Stage There are six actor types in international relations: state, nation-states, supranational organization, international organizations, non-government organizations, and multinational corporations. Each actor serves a purpose to varying degrees but two are especially significant in that one of the six actors is ideally the most prudent or important while the other is more obsolete and insignificant. In order to determine the least and greatest actors one has to go through the all the actors, furthermore a detailed description is necessary to determine the validity of an argument. The argument being, that states are the most important actor and supranational organizations are the least important because of their total level of usage. Each of the six actor types is significant in a specific way and serves a particular function to international relations. States are the foundation to the system to the system and without them there would be no international relations. The elements that make up a state are three specific things: Sovereignty, a defined territorial area, and a government that makes and enforces laws. A state’s sovereignty is its ability to make decisions both internally and externally. This means decisions are made by the state and not an external force, and a state’s sovereignty must be accepted by other states. For example, “Sovereignty is the basis of the state’s power supremacy within the country itself, exclusive control over the territory and power independence from other states” (Soros, 2007). A more physical example of a state would be the country France; it meets all three conditions to be considered a state and more. France has a border, an established government, and its sovereignty is well respected in the international community. What makes this different from nation-states is the nationalism of a country. A nation-state
Craig Greathouse
Political Science 2401
September 22, 2014
Six Actors on an International Stage There are six actor types in international relations: state, nation-states, supranational organization, international organizations, non-government organizations, and multinational corporations. Each actor serves a purpose to varying degrees but two are especially significant in that one of the six actors is ideally the most prudent or important while the other is more obsolete and insignificant. In order to determine the least and greatest actors one has to go through the all the actors, furthermore a detailed description is necessary to determine the validity of an argument. The argument being, that states are the most important actor and supranational organizations are the least important because of their total level of usage. Each of the six actor types is significant in a specific way and serves a particular function to international relations. States are the foundation to the system to the system and without them there would be no international relations. The elements that make up a state are three specific things: Sovereignty, a defined territorial area, and a government that makes and enforces laws. A state’s sovereignty is its ability to make decisions both internally and externally. This means decisions are made by the state and not an external force, and a state’s sovereignty must be accepted by other states. For example, “Sovereignty is the basis of the state’s power supremacy within the country itself, exclusive control over the territory and power independence from other states” (Soros, 2007). A more physical example of a state would be the country France; it meets all three conditions to be considered a state and more. France has a border, an established government, and its sovereignty is well respected in the international community. What makes this different from nation-states is the nationalism of a country. A nation-state