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