The historical
origin of international relations can only be a matter of speculation.1But
conceptually, it began when people began to settle down on the land and form
themselves into separate territorially-based political communities. There is no
doubt that each group faced the basic problem of co-existing with neighbouring
communities whom they could not fail to interact with because of nearness to
each other. Each group had to deal also with groups that live even farther away
from them but are capable of affecting
them. There were different forms of interaction among communities, in
activities like competitions, disputes, threats, intimidation, intervention,
invasion, conquests and others. Such
activities must have involved dialogue, collaboration, exchange, communication,
recognition and other forms of peaceful
relations.
International
society can be defined as the relations between politically organized human groupings which occupy distinct territories and enjoy and exercise a measure of
independence from each other2. It can thus be conceived as a society of political communities which are
not under any higher political authority. In international relations parlance, such detached communities are seen as states
that have (a) permanent population
(b) a defined territory (c) a central
government (d) and is independent
of all other governments that have similar status. Hedley Bull (1977:8) sums up the
foundation of international society;
the starting point of international
relations is the existence of states, or
independent political communities, each of which possesses a government and asserts sovereignty in relation to a particular portion of the earth’s surface and a particular segment of the human
population3. According
to him, international society is
defined as “a society of states that exists when a group of states, conscious of certain common
interests and common values, form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of
rules in their relations with one
another, and share in the workings of a
common institution”.4
International society is mainly a liberal or plural
political arrangement . the major importance is the political opportunity of people to enjoy a separate
geographical group existence free from
interference from any external
group (independence). An independent
state has the opportunity of
self-determination, non – intervention, right of self-defence, etc, all these are
realizable or possible because the
international society is sovereign.
A major feature
of interaction among sovereign states is
diplomacy. Diplomacy not only
facilitates, but also smoothens their
relations as it is a form of interaction in peaceful
times. But diplomacy or its
conduct has not been static. It has been
evolutionary since the ancient Greek times and renaissance Italy. Another
arrangement in international society is international law. International law
seeks to document the legal practices of sovereign states. Other such
arrangements include recognition, reciprocity, the laws of war, international
conferences, etc.
Empire building
or political empire was the most common form of relations among political group
relations. For instance the ancient Greeks
built an international society which survived for several centuries despite
other powerful empires like Persia,
Macedonia and the Roman Empire.
Undoubtedly,
empire was the most popular means of large-scale political group relations in
Western Europe, the near East, Northern Asia, and in Africa.
Between 1300 and
1500, renaissance made Italians to
construct and operate a small regional international society based
on the city states of northern an
central Italy.
Empire as a form
of international society existed in Africa (Oyo, Mali, Songhai), Greece, Rome, and China .
Eastern Europe, for instance, was dominated by empires, Russian and
Austria-Hungarian until the end of World War 1.
Although
European society created states that became independent and sovereign, but they
also created vast empires to rule non-European communities (Portuguese, British, etc)
From the
foregoing analysis, it has been shown that various international societies have
existed in history. Each group/community faced the unavoidable problem of
co-existing with neighbouring groups. The earliest records of international society are formal agreements
among ancient city states which date as
far back as 2400 BC; alliances
dating to 1390BC, and envoys as early
as 653BC.5