IB Global Politics Framing Global Politics Notes

The Westphalian System and Its Modern Challengers

• Background
  • The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the Thirty Years War and established the principle of state sovereignty - each state has supreme authority within its territory.
  • The Westphalian system is built on non-interference, territorial integrity, and the legal equality of states.
  • For over 350 years, this system has been the foundation of international relations and global governance.
• Modern Challenges to Westphalian Sovereignty
  • Globalization: Capital, information, and people flow across borders beyond state control - multinational corporations and digital platforms operate outside sovereign jurisdiction.
  • Human rights norms: The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and international criminal law assert that sovereignty is conditional on protecting citizens.
  • Non-state actors: Terrorist networks, NGOs, and tech companies exercise power that rivals or exceeds some states.
• Case: The Kosovo Declaration of Independence (2008)
  • Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, recognized by over 100 states including the US and most EU members.
  • Serbia and its allies (Russia, China) rejected the declaration as a violation of territorial integrity.
  • The ICJ advisory opinion (2010) ruled the declaration did not violate international law - but did not affirm a right to secession.
• IB Connections
  • Essential for understanding how we frame global politics - the state-centric vs. globalist debate.
  • Illustrates the tension between Westphalian sovereignty and emerging norms of humanitarian intervention.
  • Raises the question: is the state system still the best framework for understanding global politics?