Maral, Elaine

Dissolution of nation state: cities as new main actors in international relations

Introduction
International relations paradigm: the state is the main actor.
Flaw: it does not effectively ensure peace and security in a local and global
scale.
Claim: Cities can replace states position and ensure peace and security.

Background
Theory: nation state foundation: Peace of Westphalia. Sovereignty and self-
help.
All IR theories recognize the state prevalence.

Evidence #1
Topic sentence: Dissolving nation states can reduce global and domestic
conflicts.
Evidence:
Globally: conflict history from 1648 to now: Despite fewer wars, number
of deaths has trebled since 2008 due to an inexorable intensification of
violence.. (International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2015)
Domestically: institutional crime trends: organized crime, corruption,
illegal trafficking. Criminal justice failure: global mass incarceration.
(Shaw, van Dijk and Rhomberg, 2003); Ethnic conflicts due to colonial
borders (Patel, 2012)
Development: all conflicts have its roots in the state nature or states are
responsible for their growth.

Evidence #2
Topic sentence: The nation state structure does not represent its citizens.
Evidence: Democratic nations are in crisis; a decline in system support
(Merkel, 2013)
Development: the growth of non-state actors is a sign that the state itself is not
able to represent its citizens demands.

Opposing views
#1: Dissolving nation states cannot reduce global and domestic conflicts.
Refutation: cooperation has been effective in cities level for human security
(Szpak, 2015)
#2: The city structure will not represent its citizens.
Refutation: cities political engagement is in a rise (McFarlane, 2004)

Conclusion
Cities can, indeed, replace the nation state as main actors in international
relations.
Looking forward: When will it happen?
References

International Institute for Strategic Studies. (2015). Armed Conflict Survey 2015.
McFarlane, C. (2004). Geographical Imaginations and Spaces of Political Engagement:
Examples from the Indian Alliance. Antipode, 36(5), 890-916.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2004.00460.x
Merkel, W. (2013). Is there a crisis of democracy? In Annual Meeting of the American
Political Science Association (pp. 1-28). Chicago. Retrieved from
http://www.democracybarometer.org/Papers/Merkel_2013_APSA.pdf
Patel, P. (2012). Causes of Conflict. In N. Howard, E. Sondorp & A. ter Veen., Conflict and
Health (1st ed., pp. 5-13). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Shaw, M., van Dijk, J., & Rhomberg, W. (2013). Determining global trends in crime and
justice: an overview of results from the United Nations surveys of crime trends and
operations of criminal justice systems (pp. 35-64). United Nation Office on Drugs and
Crime. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e3f2/36fb37a4e26e3e5a1ab55956f4b56eac63e1.pdf#pag
e=70
Szpak, A. (2015). Cities and human security. Toruskie Studia Midzynarodowe, 1(8), 119.
http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/tis.2015.011