international system. Each concept developed within a specific historical context,
providing the building blocks for con temporary international relations. The state is
well established, but its sovereignty may be eroding from without and from within.
The principal characteristics of the con temporary international system are in the pro cess
of changing as Cold War bi polar ity ends.
Moreover, we have seen that the way peoples and their leaders remember events dra-
matically affects their sense of the legitimacy of any given cause or action. China’s
remembrance of the Rape of Nanking in 1937 and its feeling that Japan has never sat-
isfactorily acknowledged its racist brutality in China during World War II still com-
plicate China- Japan relations today. And Iran’s memories of U.S. and British support
for the former Shah of Iran (whom Iran considers an evil dictator), and their recent
invasions of two predominantly Muslim states— Iraq and Afghanistan— strongly affect
Iran’s views on acquiring an in de pen dent nuclear deterrent. Thus, understanding his-
torical events is a good way to understand the motives of con temporary leaders and the
peoples they lead.
To help us further understand the trends of the past and how they influence con-
temporary thinking, we turn to theory. Theory gives order to analy sis; it provides
generalized explanations for specific events. In Chapter 3, we will look at competing
theories of international relations. These theories view the past from quite diff er ent per-
spectives.Discussion Questions
- The Treaties of Westphalia are often viewed as the beginning of modern inter-
national relations. Why are they a useful benchmark? What factors does this
benchmark ignore? - Colonization by the great powers of Eu rope has officially ended. However,
the effects of the colonial era linger. Explain with specific examples. - The Cold War has ended. Discuss two current events in which Cold War poli-
tics persist. - The developments of international relations as a discipline have been closely
identified with the history of Western Eu rope and the United States. With this
civilizational bias, what might we be missing?
68 CHAPTER Two ■ Historical context of international relationsESSIR7_CH02_020_069_11P.indd 68 6/14/16 10:02 AM