International Relations Glossary
International Relations Glossary
Nation State
A form of political organization under which a relatively homogeneous people inhabits a sovereign state.
Sovereignty
Denotes a single, supreme political decision-making authority. In early modern Europe the Monarch was the Sovereign. In modern states sovereignty tends to lie with the executive arm of government. A controversial term, sovereignty relies on authority, not power. That is, the sovereign claims the right or authority to decide matters of interest to the state, even if it cannot control everything that occurs within its territory.
Medieval
Of or relating to the period of European history from about A.D. 500 to about 1500.
Feudalism
Feudalism was the medieval model of government predating the birth of the modern nation-state. Feudal society is a military hierarchy in which a ruler or lord offers mounted fighters a fief (medieval beneficium), a unit of land to control in exchange for a military service. The individual who accepted this land became a vassal, and the man who granted the land become known as his liege or his lord.
Individualism
A social theory advocating the liberty, rights or independent action of the individual.
Liberalism
A political theory that prizes individual freedom. It believes individuals should be free to do as they please, without the interference of others, so long as they don not harm or limit the freedom of others. In IR it has tended to focus on the development of international law, the spread of democracy and the expansion of free trade, in which Immanuel Kant is one of the leading theorists.
Communitarianism
A political theory that emphasises individuals’ attachments to the community in which they grew up. The communities in which we grow up are thought to be the source of moral values. Communitarianism adopts the ethical position that a person’s moral obligations are always first and foremost members of our own community and that they cannot be
Nation State
A form of political organization under which a relatively homogeneous people inhabits a sovereign state.
Sovereignty
Denotes a single, supreme political decision-making authority. In early modern Europe the Monarch was the Sovereign. In modern states sovereignty tends to lie with the executive arm of government. A controversial term, sovereignty relies on authority, not power. That is, the sovereign claims the right or authority to decide matters of interest to the state, even if it cannot control everything that occurs within its territory.
Medieval
Of or relating to the period of European history from about A.D. 500 to about 1500.
Feudalism
Feudalism was the medieval model of government predating the birth of the modern nation-state. Feudal society is a military hierarchy in which a ruler or lord offers mounted fighters a fief (medieval beneficium), a unit of land to control in exchange for a military service. The individual who accepted this land became a vassal, and the man who granted the land become known as his liege or his lord.
Individualism
A social theory advocating the liberty, rights or independent action of the individual.
Liberalism
A political theory that prizes individual freedom. It believes individuals should be free to do as they please, without the interference of others, so long as they don not harm or limit the freedom of others. In IR it has tended to focus on the development of international law, the spread of democracy and the expansion of free trade, in which Immanuel Kant is one of the leading theorists.
Communitarianism
A political theory that emphasises individuals’ attachments to the community in which they grew up. The communities in which we grow up are thought to be the source of moral values. Communitarianism adopts the ethical position that a person’s moral obligations are always first and foremost members of our own community and that they cannot be