"The concept of the state remains at one and the same time the most central and yet most elusive concepts in modern politics. This superb collection ranges across historical, Theoretical, and empirical landscapes, providing challenging and incisive insights into key issues of our time. A first-rate book."Michael C Williams, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs University of Ottawa, Canada


A critical reassessment of the concepts of the State and sovereignty in International Relations theory
The concept of the State plays a central role in International Relations, above all in Realist and Neo-Realist approaches. Yet, the State is persistently undertheorised, its meaning taken to be self evident by both advocates of the sovereign state and its critics. Newly available in paperback, this volume seeks to counter this trend and stimulate systematic consideration of the nature of the State, the concept of sovereignty which is so often taken as essential to it, and the challenge of advocates of globalization and cosmopolitanism. Featuring contributions from some of the most reputed theorists of the State, the essays in this collection offer a coherent yet distinctively pluralist set of original reflections on the role and nature of the State.

Robert Schuett has a Ph.D. from the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University, UK. His research interests are primarily based in political theory of international relations and security/strategic studies. He joined the Austrian Federal Civil Service in 2011.
Peter M. R. Stirk is a Senior Lecturer at Durham University. His publications include The Politics of Military Occupation (Edinburgh University Press, 2009) and Twentieth-Century German Political Thought (Edinburgh University Press, 2006).

Introduction: The Concept of the State in International Relations, Peter M.R. Stirk; Chapter 1: International Law and Statehood: A Performative View, Janis Grzybowski & Martti Koskenniemi; Chapter 2: The State as a Universe of Discourse, Peter J. Steinberger; Chapter 3: Sovereignty and the Personality of the State, Jens Bartelson; Chapter 4: The State as Urban Myth: Governance without Government in the Global South, Oliver Jütersonke and Moncef Kartas; Chapter 5: 'Decolonizing Sovereignty: Globalisation and the Return of Hyper-Sovereignty', John M. Hobson; Chapter 6: The Concept of the State as a Community of Liability, Peter M.R. Stirk; Chapter 7: From Global Governance to Global Stateness, William E. Scheuerman; Conclusion: Open Societies, Cosmopolitanism, and the State as a Safeguard against Nationalism, Robert Schuett