Peace and Nation-States

The theoretical and empirical studies of Deutsch and Wagenen admittedly appear grand. However, the scholars curtail the focus of their work to peaceful relations among nation-states in one major region of the globe--the North Atlantic area. The lessons learned from the relations within the North Atlantic region can then be generalized for the future study of how to attain peace across the globe as a whole.

The critical issue of relations between as well as within nation-states is how to minimize the risk of war by substituting the rule of law among nations. This is the problem of international "security." Specifically, the problem is this: how do groups of people attain the status of security-communities free of the risk of war?

Before analyzing this issue, Deutsch and Wagenen offer several definitions of key terms that help guide their analysis. Many of the terms employed in international relations do not carry the same meaning as in common usage, making clarity in definitions essential.

"Security" is defined as the protection of the members of the group from the unauthorized use of physical force by other members of the g

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inherent and unequivocal trend toward internationalism and world community and no apparent decline in the instances of war (Deutsch et al., 1957, p. 22). Another related popular belief that did not find confirmation in the study is that amalgamation of nation-states has a snow-balling effect to continue growing into ever larger political units. Successful amalgamation of smaller units led, instead, to larger political units that focused their attention and development skills on the domestic concerns of the nation-state rather than the needs of those "outside" the territory. As a result, while the nation-state may have witnessed growing prosperity, the boundaries of the successful nation-state usually failed to expand to encompass larger units. The preoccupation with domestic affairs reduced the ability of these governments to respond appropriately to international concerns, thus rendering them unattractive for expansion (Deutsch et al., 1957, p. 25). Finally, a third popular assumption of international relations that failed to pan out in their empirical analysis is that smaller units amalgamate out of the fear of anarchy and for protection from external threats by a strong central military force. The experiences of the United
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Approximate Word count = 2050
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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