First Class Discussion

I found the portion of the class discussion about the evolution of the modern state system and applying the rules of evolution to countries particularly interesting on Thursday. We discussed how that in Europe, the order evolved in order to maximize efficiency, economic success, and security. Despite the natural aspect of the state systems evolution in Europe, this system did not evolve naturally in the rest of the world. Imperialism, globalization, and a general Western interest in the rest of the world led to the rest of the world division into states even though for many states it is not culturally or economically practical. The obvious example is Africa, which was divided haphazardly and the many cases of the civil war within African states can at least partially be traced to the very non-evolutionary that they came into being.

Agata made a lot of really good points about the EU, and I agree with her argument. I am divided in my thinking about how naturally that the EU evolved. I agree that the EU makes more sense as an economic entity, rather than a political one, and that member states must feel the same after the Constitution failed to be accepted. It makes sense that small states in Europe would join together because it is difficult for them to compete on an international scale against U.S., China, etc. At the same time, the fact that Europe felt the economic need to come together does not mean the rest of the world is going to follow the same trend because other countries do not have this same need. If countries do come together then it should be out of mutual need, not because the EU at least appears fairly successful.