ARTH1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Security Dilemma, Asteroid Family, Bestway
Document Summary
Introduction to lnternational relations lnternational relations in everyday life. Ir is the shorthand name for the academic subject of international relations. The main reason why we should study ir is the fact that the entire population of the world is divided inro sepa- rate political communities, or independent states, which profoundly affect the way people live. An independent state may be defined as a clear-cut and bordered territory with a permanent population, under the jurisdiction of supreme government that is constitutionally separate from all foreign governments: a sovereign state. Together, those states form an international state system that is global in extent. At the present time, there are almost 200 independent states. With very few exceptions, everybody on earth not only lives in one of those countries but is also a citizen of one of them and very rarely of more than one.
