Article :Buzan, Barry & Little, Richard. 2000. International Systems in World History: Remaking the Study of International Relations.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
At the seminar, we will examine each of the major topics – (1) the early origins of international
systems, (2) the emergence of the modern state, and (3) the long-term trajectory of the international
system.
Your task, based on a thorough reading of the article, will be to contribute to the discussion based on
the perspective advanced in the article you have studied.
You should try to apply the framework of Buzan and Little (2000) to your article. Not all the authors
explicitly mention these concepts but you can use your understanding of the framework to address
the relevant aspects of the framework through the article you have chosen:
a) What are the main types of source materials used in the article to construct its argument?
b) What are the main constituent units of the system studied in the article?
c) What is their structural relationship?
d) What does the article say about the interaction capacity of the actors mentioned?
e) What processes formed the main basis of their interaction?
f) What sectors does the article focus on?
Be well prepared, as all groups will present.
We will also discuss the central points of agreement and difference in the articles. Hence, in addition
to your ‘own’ article, you should read (but do not need to present) at least one other article from the
list, to help the discussion.
Early international relations and modern IR
• Bagby, L.M.J. 1994, “The use and abuse of Thucydides in international relations”, International
Organization, 48:1, pp. 131-153.
• Abu-Lughod, J. 1990, “Restructuring the Premodern World-System”, Review (Fernand Braudel
Center), 13:2, pp. 273-286.
The emergence of and contested role of the modern state
• de Carvalho, B., Leira, H. & Hobson, J.M. 2011, “The Big Bangs of IR: The Myths That Your
Teachers Still Tell You about 1648 and 1919”, Millennium – Journal of International Studies, 39:3,
pp. 735-758.
• Spruyt, H. 2002, “The Origins, Development and Possible Decline of the Modern State”, Annual
Review of Political Science, 5:1, pp. 127-149.
The evolution of international and world systems
• Buzan, Barry and Lawson, George (2013) “The Global Transformation: The Nineteenth Century
and the Making of Modern International Relations”, International Studies Quarterly 57: 620-34,
the article should be read together with Musgrave, P. and Nexon, D.H. (2013) “Singularity or
Aberration? A Response to Buzan and Lawson”, International Studies Quarterly 57, 637–639
• Zielonka, J. 2012, “Empires and the Modern International System”, Geopolitics 17:3, pp. 502-525
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