Handbook

How is change possible in the international system? How do actors bring it about, and which actors matter?

While the state is the primary actor in international relations, today its power is challenged along a number of directions: whether by changes at the domestic level; by international actors such as international and non governmental organizations and transnational actors; by events outside its control, whether globalization, conflict, or state failure; and finally by the very structures of international society. This subject will provide an overview of the major theoretical perspectives in international relations. It will then use the role of the state in the international system today to explore issues of agency, the emergence of new forms of global governance, and the rise of new transnational threats and problems