Changes in Statehood: The Transformation of International Relations

This study of international relations is often cut off from the study of domestic affairs, but this insulation of the international from the domestic is wrong. International forces profoundly influence the core structures of sovereign statehood, including their political military, economic and normative substance. Conversely, the very nature of international relations is determined by the internal structure of states. In an important contribution to the debate, Georg Sorensen puts forward an original analysis of this critical interplay between internal and external forces. He explores the development and change of the sovereign state and offers a new agenda for the study of international relations. Changes in Statehood will be essential reading for students and researchers in international relations, political science and security.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: The Argument An Analytical Framework Theories on the Effect of 'International' on 'Domestic' Political-Military Power Shaping Domestic Structures: Homogeneity or Heterogeneity International Norms Shaping Domestic Structures: Homogeneity or Heterogeneity Economic Power Shaping Domestic Structures: Homogeneity or Heterogeneity Types of State in the Present International System Domestic Dimension of Security Dilemmas The Security Dilemma in Post-Colonial States Post-Modern States: From Security Dilemma Towards Challenges to Effective Governance Sovereignty and Changes in Statehood Types of State and International Theory Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
GEORG SA RENSEN is Professor of Political Science at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. He has published widely on international relations; recent books include Democracy and Democratization, Democracy, Dictatorship and Development, and with Robert Jackson, Introduction to International Relations.

Review :
'Changes in Statehood illuminates the complex forces which define the contemporary global political condition. It is a work of serious and engaging scholarship which offers profound insights into the on-going transformation of statehood in the twenty first century. In arguing passionately for the intellectual re-connection of international and domestic political theory Georg Sorensen has produced an innovative work which will surely become required reading for anyone interested in the changing fortunes of the state in global politics and the prospects for a more just and peaceful world order.' - Tony McGrew, Professor of International Relations, Southampton University, UK Changes in Statehood is a tour de force. Georg Sorensen builds an intriguing and sophisticated interpretation of contemporary international relations on the basis of an new and differentiated conception of 'the state.' Changes in Statehood will be important for scholars and useful for students.' - Robert O. Keohane, James B. Duke Professor of Political Science, Duke University 'Changes in Statehood is an authoritative exploration of the systematic changes that are transforming both international and domestic politics. Sorensen's enormous contribution is to combine his exceptional clarity of thinking on a broad range of issues with a rare incisiveness of insight. It is a book no serious student of world politics can afford to miss.' - Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. of International Studies, Cornell University, USA 'Changes in Statehood illuminates the complex forces which define the contemporary global political condition. It is a work of serious and engaging scholarship which offers profound insights into the on-going transformation of statehood in the twenty first century. In arguing passionately for the intellectual re-connection of international and domestic political theory Georg Sorensen has produced an innovative work which will surely become required reading for anyone interested in the changing fortunes of the state in global politics and the prospects for a more just and peaceful world order.' - Tony McGrew, Professor of International Relations, Southampton University