The Resistance of the Westphalian System: September 11 and World Politics

Abstract

This article aims to present several assumptions about world politics since the end of the Cold War. First, as the ancillary argument of this paper, what we have been experiencing since the end of the Cold War era is a sign of a newly emerging world system which bears contradictions with the Westphalian one. I explain the existence of the challenge to the Westphalian model by focusing on new developments that are inconsistent with the principles of this model. Second, as the basic argument of this paper, since September 11, the struggle between the Westphalian structure and newly emerging forces has entered a new phase. I take the cognitive process of the current world powers to analyze the struggle between the Westphalian structure and the challenging forces.

Keywords

Westphalia, Sovereignty, 9/11, International System, Change

Citation

Bacik, Gokhan, "The Resistance of the Westphalian System: September 11 and World Politics", International Relations, Volume 3, Issue 10 (Summer 2006), pp. 53-84.

Affiliations

• Gokhan Bacik, Assistant Professor, Fatih University, Department of International Relations