📚 States as Key Actors in Global Politics and the Balance of Power (State Sovereignty) | 国家作为全球政治的关键行为体与均势（国家主权）
In the study of AS Politics, particularly within the Edexcel specification, understanding the role of states as primary actors in global politics is foundational. This article explores how state sovereignty forms the bedrock of the international system and how the concept of the balance of power has historically shaped, and continues to influence, relations between states. From the Treaty of Westphalia to contemporary debates over globalisation, we examine why states remain central despite growing challenges, and how realism explains the persistent logic of power distribution and equilibrium.
在AS政治课程中，尤其是Edexcel教学大纲里，理解国家作为全球政治首要行为体的角色是基础。本文将探讨国家主权如何构成国际体系的基石，以及均势概念如何历史性地塑造并持续影响着国家间关系。从威斯特伐利亚和约到当代关于全球化的辩论，我们将审视为何国家在面对日益增长的挑战时仍居中心地位，以及现实主义如何解释权力分配与平衡的持久逻辑。
1. The Primacy of the State in International Relations | 国家在国际关系中的首要地位
Realist thinkers such as Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz argue that sovereign states are the most important actors in world politics. In an anarchical international system lacking a central authority, each state must rely on its own capabilities to ensure survival. States are treated as unitary, rational actors that define national interests primarily in terms of power and security. This state-centrism underpins all major theories of international relations and is the starting point for analysing the balance of power.
汉斯·摩根索和肯尼思·沃尔兹等现实主义思想家认为，主权国家是世界政治中最重要的行为体。在一个缺乏中央权威的无政府国际体系中，每个国家必须依靠自身能力来保障生存。国家被视为一元化的理性行为体，主要以权力和安全来界定国家利益。这种以国家为中心的观点支撑着所有主流国际关系理论，也是分析均势的出发点。
2. Defining State Sovereignty | 定义国家主权
Sovereignty has both internal and external dimensions. Internal sovereignty refers to the supreme authority within a state's territory, including law-making, taxation and the legitimate use of force. External sovereignty denotes the state's independence from outside interference and its legal equality with other states. This dual character was formalised in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which established the principles of territorial integrity and non-intervention as norms of international conduct.
主权具有内部和外部两个维度。内部主权指国家领土内最高权威，包括立法、征税及合法使用武力的权力。外部主权则意味着国家独立于外来干涉，并在法律上与其他国家平等。这种双重性质在1648年威斯特伐利亚和约中被正式化，确立了领土完整和不干涉内政作为国际行为规范的原则。
3. Sovereignty as the Foundation of the International System | 主权作为国际体系的基础
The Westphalian model remains the template for modern international relations. The UN Charter reinforces sovereignty through Article 2(4), which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of any state, and Article 2(7), which bars intervention in matters essentially within domestic jurisdiction. These legal pillars confirm that, despite evolving interpretations, sovereignty continues to provide order by defining jurisdictions and limiting external interference.
威斯特伐利亚模式仍然是现代国际关系的模板。《联合国宪章》通过第2条第4款禁止针对任何国家领土完整的武力威胁或使用武力，以及第2条第7款禁止干预本质上属于国内管辖的事务，巩固了主权原则。这些法律支柱证实，尽管解释在演变，主权通过界定管辖范围和限制外部干预，继续提供秩序。
4. The Balance of Power: A Realist Mechanism | 均势：现实主义的机制
The balance of power is a core realist concept referring to a distribution of power among states that prevents any single state from achieving hegemony. Classical realists like Morgenthau saw the balance of power as an almost automatic outcome of states pursuing their national interests. It can be maintained through internal balancing (building up one's own military capabilities) and external balancing (forming alliances). When the equilibrium is threatened, wars may occur to restore balance, or a new balancing coalition will emerge to contain the rising power.
均势是现实主义的一个核心概念，指国家间权力的分布足以防止任何单一国家取得霸权。像摩根索这样的古典现实主义者认为，均势几乎是各国追求自身国家利益的自动产物。它可以通过内部平衡（加强自身军事实力）和外部平衡（缔结联盟）来维持。当均势受到威胁时，战争可能爆发以恢复平衡，或者会形成新的制衡联盟来遏制崛起大国。
5. Historical Examples of Balance of Power | 均势的历史实例
The Concert of Europe following the Napoleonic Wars (1815) was a deliberate attempt by great powers such as Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia to manage the balance of power through consultation and mutual restraint. Bismarck's alliance system after 1871 sought to isolate France and avoid a two-front war for Germany, demonstrating intricate balancing. During the Cold War, the bipolar balance between the United States and the Soviet Union created a period of 'long peace' maintained by nuclear deterrence and spheres of influence.
拿破仑战争后的欧洲协调（1815年）是英、奥、普、俄等大国通过协商和相互克制来管理均势的刻意尝试。俾斯麦在1871年后的联盟体系旨在孤立法国并避免德国陷入两线作战，展示了精妙的平衡术。冷战期间，美苏之间的两极均势创造了由核威慑和势力范围维持的“长和平”时期。
6. States as Rational Actors in Power Politics | 国家作为权力政治中的理性行为体
Realism assumes that states calculate costs and benefits and act to maximise power and national interest. Sovereign decision-making allows states to join or abandon alliances, build up armaments, or engage in war when it serves their interests. The 'offshore balancer' strategy historically adopted by Britain – intervening to prevent any single power from dominating continental Europe – illustrates rational balancing. Even today, states align and realign on the basis of power considerations, from NATO's expansion to the Quad in the Indo-Pacific.
现实主义假设国家会进行成本收益计算，并采取行动最大化权力和国家利益。主权决策允许国家根据自身利益加入或退出联盟、扩充军备或参与战争。英国历史上采取的“离岸平衡手”战略——进行干预以防止任何一个大国主宰欧洲大陆——就是理性平衡的例证。即使在今天，国家仍基于权力考量进行结盟与再结盟，从北约扩展到印太四方安全对话。
7. Challenges to State Sovereignty in the Modern Era | 现代对国家主权的挑战
While states remain key, their sovereignty faces multiple challenges. Supranational organisations like the European Union pool sovereignty to achieve collective goals. Liberal internationalists argue that human rights norms, epitomised by the 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P), can justify intervention in a state's internal affairs. Moreover, the proliferation of international law and global governance regimes imposes binding rules that limit state discretion. Non-state actors – multinational corporations, NGOs and terrorist networks – also operate across borders, circumventing sovereign control.
虽然国家仍是关键，但它们的主权面临多重挑战。像欧盟这样的超国家组织汇集主权以实现集体目标。自由国际主义者认为，以“保护的责任”（R2P）为代表的人权规范能够证明干预一国内部事务的正当性。此外，国际法和全球治理机制的扩散施加了限制国家自由裁量权的约束性规则。非国家行为体——跨国公司、非政府组织和恐怖网络——也跨国界运作，绕过了主权控制。
8. Globalisation and the Erosion of Sovereignty? | 全球化与主权侵蚀？
The debate over whether globalisation erodes state sovereignty is sharply divided. Hyperglobalists contend that states have become 'powerless' in the face of global markets, capital flows and digital communications. Sceptics, such as Stephen Krasner, argue that sovereignty has always been 'organised hypocrisy' and that states remain robust, actively using regional organisations and trade agreements to manage interdependence. In this view, sovereignty is not eroding but being redefined – from exclusive control to pooled or shared sovereignty.
关于全球化是否侵蚀国家主权的辩论分歧尖锐。超全球化主义者认为，国家在全球市场、资本流动和数字通信面前变得“无能为力”。怀疑论者如斯蒂芬·克拉斯纳则指出，主权一直是“有组织的虚伪”，国家依然强大，并积极利用区域组织和贸易协议来管理相互依赖。在这种观点中，主权并未削弱而是在重新定义——从排他性控制转向汇集或共享的主权。
9. Non-State Actors and the Westphalian System | 非国家行为体与威斯特伐利亚体系
International organisations (UN, WTO, IMF), transnational corporations and violent non-state actors all challenge the state's monopoly on authoritative governance. However, most of these actors operate within frameworks created and maintained by states. Even powerful tech firms must comply with national regulations, and international organisations are composed of member states that ultimately decide on binding resolutions. The Westphalian logic therefore adjusts rather than disappears, as states devise new ways to exercise sovereignty through regulation and cooperation.
国际组织（联合国、世贸组织、国际货币基金组织）、跨国公司和暴力非国家行为体都挑战着国家对权威治理的垄断。然而，这些行为体大多在由国家创建和维持的框架内运作。即便是实力雄厚的科技企业也必须遵守国家法规，国际组织也由最终决定约束性决议的成员国组成。因此，威斯特伐利亚逻辑进行调整而非消失，国家通过规制与合作设计出行使主权的新方式。
10. The Persistence of the Balance of Power Logic | 均势逻辑的持续
Structural realists like Waltz maintain that the anarchic nature of the international system makes the balance of power a permanent feature. The post-Cold War unipolar moment has given way to renewed great-power competition between the US, China and a resurgent Russia. Regional balances in the Middle East, South Asia and the South China Sea demonstrate that states still calculate shifts in relative power and take countermeasures. Nuclear weapons extend the balancing mechanism into the realm of existential deterrence, preserving a tense stability.
像沃尔兹这样的结构现实主义者认为，国际体系的无政府性质使均势成为一种永久性特征。冷战后的单极时刻已让位于美国、中国与复苏的俄罗斯之间的大国竞争重现。中东、南亚和南海的区域均势表明，国家仍在计算相对权力的变化并采取对策。核武器将平衡机制延伸到存亡攸关的威慑领域，保持着一种紧张的稳定。
11. Case Study: The Cold War Balance of Power | 案例研究：冷战均势
The Cold War is the quintessential example of balance of power in a bipolar system. The US and USSR built vast nuclear arsenals under the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), stabilising the strategic balance. Proxy wars in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan allowed superpower competition without direct confrontation. Spheres of influence limited the sovereignty of smaller states, yet the system endured because it provided predictability and maintained overall peace between the great powers until internal pressures led to the Soviet collapse.
冷战是两极体系中均势的典型范例。美苏在“相互确保摧毁”（MAD）原则下建立了庞大的核武库，稳定了战略平衡。朝鲜、越南和阿富汗的代理人战争使超级大国能够在不直接对抗的情况下竞争。势力范围限制了小国的主权，但该体系得以持久，因为它提供了可预测性并维持了大国间的总体和平，直到内部压力导致苏联解体。
12. Conclusion: States Remain Central but Sovereignty is Evolving | 结论：国家仍然核心但主权在演变
The evidence overwhelmingly confirms that sovereign states remain the pivotal actors in global politics, shaping and being shaped by the balance of power. While sovereignty is challenged by globalisation, supranational integration and transnational threats, it has proven remarkably resilient and adaptable. The balance of power continues to operate, though its instruments now include economic statecraft, cyber capabilities and alliance diplomacy alongside traditional military means. For AS Politics students, grasping the interplay between state sovereignty and the balance of power is essential to understanding the dynamics of the international system – a system that is constantly evolving yet rooted in enduring realist principles.
证据充分证实，主权国家仍是全球政治中的核心行为体，塑造着均势也被均势所塑造。尽管主权受到全球化、超国家一体化和跨国威胁的挑战，但它已被证明极具韧性且善于适应。均势仍在发挥作用，尽管其工具现在包括经济治国术、网络能力和联盟外交，以及传统的军事手段。对于AS政治学生而言，把握国家主权与均势之间的相互作用，对理解国际体系的动态至关重要——这个体系在持续演变，却植根于永恒的现实主义原则。
Published by TutorHao | Politics Revision Series | aleveler.com
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