ORIGINS OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY | MARTINS LIBRARY

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