States and Citizenship

Much is made in the contemporary policy world of the challenges of “failed states” and of what is often called “nation-building.” But what are these things we call states? How are they related to nations, to other states, to “nonstate actors,” to the “state system,” to sovereignty? And what do policy-makers need to know as they contemplate problems posed by both strong and weak states? What we know as states today are relatively modern inventions—conventionally dated to the European Peace of Westphalia in 1648—and there are many other ways human communities have governed themselves, kept the peace, fostered arts and letters and otherwise provided some measure of culture and prosperity. Yet today, states cover the world’s territory—the “international state system” even determines the rules for exploitation of the high seas and outer space—and the state seems everywhere triumphant. Except where it isn’t. Challenged by globalization of trade and information flows, labor mobility, the spread of germs, arms, ideas around the world, the state is also under siege. This course examines the character, origins, dissemination and prospects of this building block of modern international affairs. It draws many of its empirical referents from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but students are welcome to bring knowledge and inquiry about other parts of the world to the course. This course is designed to provide an informed and reflective context for the kinds of policy dilemmas that professionals in both international security and international development confront daily.