Empires, Nation-States, and Democracies: Institutions in the International Arena

How the geopolitical behavior of states is closely related to the nature of their political systemsToday’s world is characterized by an unstable coexistence of empires, nation-states, and democracies.In this book, Gerard Roland examines these three fundamentally different institutional systems and considers whether the international behavior of nations is influenced by the nature of their political regimes.He explains that until the nineteenth century, international relations were driven by rivalries among competing empires; as empires started to disintegrate, they were replaced by nation-states, some of which became democracies.The nation-state project supported by today’s extreme right promotes ethnic homogeneity within a country’s borders, while democracies are based on universal values of citizenship.Interactions between countries with such essentially different political systems, Roland shows, are seldom harmonious and likely to evolve into cultural clashes and military conflict.