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A term used to refer to the collectivity of sovereign states. Historically, it was often used in writing about international relations (sense 2), and at this level finds much contemporary favour in Britain. ‘International society’ certainly has some advantages over the alternative terms, international community, international system, and states-system. For example, it hints at the associative character of international relations, yet does not invest them with the intimacy implied by the word community. Then, too, the general idea of society focuses attention on the fact that it is individuals who take decisions on behalf of states, and do so on the basis of volition, whereas the idea of system carries more than a whiff of automaticity. And, unlike system, the term society directly suggests the ideas of admission and exclusivity, thus pointing to the fact that there is a very specific criterion – sovereignty (sense 1) – which must be met before a territorial entity is eligible for participation in international relations. See also international institution (sense 2); international order; Westphalia, Congress of (1644–48). |
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