The present international system, composed for the most part of sovereign, territorial states, is often viewed as the inevitable outcome of historical development. Hendrik Spruyt argues that there was nothing inevitable about the rise of the state system, however. Examining the competing institutions that arose during the decline of feudalism--among them urban leagues, independent communes, city states, and sovereign monarchies--Spruyt disposes of the familiar claim that the superior size and war-making ability of the sovereign nation-state made it the natural successor to the feudal...

At the dawn of the twentieth century, imperial powers controlled most of the globe. Within a few decades after World War II, many of the great empires had dissolved, and more recently, multinational polities have similarly disbanded. This process of reallocating patterns of authority, from internal hierarchy to inter-state relations, proved far more contentious in some cases than in others. While some governments exited the colonial era without becoming embroiled in lengthy conflicts, others embarked on courses that drained their economies, compelled huge sacrifices, and caused domestic...

In the current era we have the ability to wage global war, interact economically and culturally with any part of the world, and communicate with each other in real time. Our horizons are now global. Time and space have contracted. This text takes the change in our horizons as a key feature of modern international relations, examining how international politics and the relations between nations and states have become global politics.

Rather than survey a large array of issues and theories, Spruyt provides students with particular "tools of the trade" and with different perspectives to...