1 - International Law and the Sinocentric Ritual System

Summary

Until recently, a belief shared by many historians and legal and political theorists has been that the way the world’s societies have organized themselves politically and legally can be read through a dichotomy between empire and sovereign nation, and that historically empires preceded the formation of sovereign states and nations, which, being the only legitimate form of sovereignty, are one of the final telos of history.Although some international relations scholars have argued that the material configuration characterizing sovereign states could already be found in Greek city-states during the Peloponnesian Wars (460–404 BCE), as narrated by Thucydides, and during the period of the Warring States in China (475–221 BCE), mythically their origin is found in the territory of Europe and identified with the Peace of Westphalia, signed to end the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648).