• International Politics has been viewed by some scholars as politics among nations (Nation States).
• The Nation-State is regarded as the key actor (basic unit) in protecting the national interests and promoting power.
• The interactions among the policies of governments of Nation States have been the main elements of International Relations.
• These interactions encompass both cooperative relations and conflict relations.
• Besides the aim of socio-economic development, Nation States strive for power to protect their national interests and dominance.
• At times, Nation States use force, violence and threats in pursuit of their conflicting goals.
• Hence, the international political system with sovereign states as actors abiding certain principles of International Law and Diplomacy can be termed as the Sovereign State System.
• As such, International Politics is basically a system of relations and interactions among sovereign states.
• As Palmer and Perkins observe, “throughout the modern history, the nation state system has been the dominant pattern of international political organization in the western world and more recently it has spread to other parts of the world as well.”
• Sovereign Nation States have been the major actors in the Sovereign State System.
• Besides Nation States, there are also non-state actors in the International Political System such as multinational corporations and fundamentalist groups, but these lack the basic characteristics of sovereignty and territoriality.
• In modern times, every state having the basic elements of people, territory, government and sovereignty also needed to have spiritual and emotional force that strengthens all elements of the state with nationalism.
• The concept of nationalism supports and reinforces the state.
• Hence, the modern state system is also termed as the sovereign nation-state system, where people are bound by the psychological belongingness to the state.
• The State in this system strengthens itself with different roles.
• State operates itself as a functional unit in response to external political situations.
• State also acts as a free agent (both in theoretical and empirical terms) to guard the national interests.
• It also plays a dominant role in World Politics as an arbiter to achieve national ends.
• The activities of respective states, in conformity with provisions and principles of International Law or otherwise, mark the emergence of the Sovereign State System in International Politics.

Sovereign State System: Nature and Definition

• Nation-State has been the key actor in International Politics from the 17th century onwards.
• These sovereign states strive to protect their national interests through instruments of diplomacy and international law.
• The Sovereign State System may thus be understood as a system of states abiding obligations of international law with the purpose of achieving national interests and power.
• In pursuit of these interests, states often apply force and coercion within the ambit of the balance of power and collective security.
• The emergence of the Sovereign State System took place in a complex political, economic and historical context.
• During the 17th and 18th centuries, revival of trade and commerce led to the rise of middle classes, who sought autonomy of the state against social and religious forces for their protection.
• According to Palmer and Perkins, three elements distinguish the system: sovereignty, doctrine of nationalism, and national power.
• Immanuel Wallerstein emphasizes the economic determinants of the State System, where multiple state jurisdictions coexist within the modern world system, shaped by global economic processes and interstate relations.
• The modern Sovereign State System emerged with the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), which ended the Thirty Years’ War in Europe.
• It developed in the context of religious and political conflicts in the 16th and 17th centuries, where struggles between feudal lords and dynastic kings gave rise to the sovereign, secular nation-state.
• The rise of industrialization, capitalism and colonialism further strengthened Nation-States.
• The decline of the Holy Roman Empire and weakening of the Pope’s authority ensured that states gained supremacy in political matters, making them accountable primarily to their people.
• This created a system based on nationalism and collective consciousness, forming the basis of the world system.
• According to Palmer and Perkins, “The Sovereign State System is the pattern of political life in which people are separately organized into sovereign states that interact with one another in varying degrees and in varying ways.”
• Coulombis and Wolfe note that since International Relations focuses mainly on relations between nation-states, it is necessary to study their social and ethnic composition. Even if states may appear transitory compared to non-state actors, the contemporary reality is that most people continue to look to their Nation States for protection, identity and direction.
• Thus, the Nation-State occupies a primary position in the Sovereign State System as the basic unit.
• The role of the nation-state in this system is multidimensional:
  • As a sovereign power with monopoly over people and territory.
  • As an operational agent not obliged to other states.
  • As a determinant of world politics through patterns of cooperation and conflict.
  • As a controller striving to achieve the national interests and aspirations of its people.
• Hence, the Sovereign State System functions alongside the development of International Law and International Organizations, with Nation States as the basic units of world politics.