The emergence of

Westphalian system
Presented by
Anthonia Nlebedum
 The Westphalian system of sovereign states was
established in 1648 as part of the Peace of Westphalia
following a long 30years of war on German soil. The first
six months of the conference were spent arguing over
protocol, Under the provisions of the treaty, the Swiss
gained their independence from Austria, the Netherlands
gained its independence from Spain, and the German
principalities became independent

three core points to the treaty as…

1. The principle of state sovereignty;
2. The principle of (legal) equality of states;
3. The principle of non-intervention of one state in the
international affairs of another.
The treaty of Westphalia
 The Thirty Years War (1618-48) devastated Europe. But
the treaty that ended the conflict, the Treaty of
Westphalia, had great impact on the practice of
international relations…
 It embraced the notion of sovereignty—that the
sovereign enjoyed exclusive rights within a given
territory. It also established that states could
determine their own domestic policies in their own
geographic space.
Cont…
 Leaders sought to establish their own
permanent national militaries. The state
thus became more powerful since the
state had to collect taxes to pay for
these militaries and the leaders
assumed absolute control over the
troops.
 It established a core group of states that
dominated the world until the beginning
of the nineteenth century: Austria,
Russia, England, France, and the United
Provinces of the Netherlands and
Belgium.
Westphalian revolution
 The formulation of sovereignty was one of the
most important intellectual developments
leading to the Westphalian revolution
Westphalian System of World Order, has
anchored the global political system for 350
years.
 Much of the development of sovereignty is
found in the writings of French philosopher Jean
Bodin. (sovereignty was the “absolute and
perpetual power vested in a commonwealth.”
Absolute sovereignty is not without limits,
leaders are limited by natural law, laws of God)
The challenges.
 challenges to this model of international
relations come from various fields, such as
international security, humanitarian activity, and
global economy.
 Along with giving each state the privilege to
make its own decisions, sovereignty gives
benefits to individual nations, while providing
multiple disadvantages. each state can decide
the best for its people, thereby developing
economically, socially, and politically. Other
states, no matter how powerful, do not have the
right to take upon the rule of a sovereign
country
Cont…
 Many leaders, especially in the countries of Asia
and the Middle East, support the notions of self-
determination and non-intervention, both in
terms of political and cultural influence.

 The development of liberal international

institutions in the past decades is a great
example of that. These organizations, while
serving a great range of purposes, often get in
the way of ideals of the Westphalian system.
Solution…
 the solution is to attempt reconstruction of a new
world order, an order without the old religious
values which will balance the old to order
 remind/inform the world of the reason behind the
creation of the Westphalian system in the first
place (a way of incorporating multiple societies,
religions and states into a more peaceful and
orderly world.)
references
 Camilleri, J. and Falk, J. (1992), The End of Sovereignty?:
The Politics of a Shrinking and Fragmenting World, Edward
Elgar, Aldershot.
 Leurdijk, J. (1986), Intervention in International Politics,
Eisma BV, Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
 Phil Williams: Violent Non-State Actors and National and
International Security ISN, 2008.
 Kissinger, H. (2014), 'World Order'.
 Cutler, A. Claire (2001), "Critical Reflections on the
Westphalian Assumptions of International Law and
Organization: A Crisis of Legitimacy", Review of International
Studies 27 (2): 133–150.
 Patrick J. Buchanan (May 23, 2006), The Death of the
Nation State