The problem of a world state
A conflict of global identity in theory and practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12923552 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Iain Ferguson (0000-0002-2442-3580, National Research University Higher School of Economics, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 198-220 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of International Political Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1755-0882 • E-ISSN: 1755-1722 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/17550882251393815 |
| OpenAlex | W4416248150 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
This paper represents an existing critique of Alexander Wendt’s theory of a ‘world state’ and invites responses to a new international theory. The argument is that Wendt’s account of the global identity formation of a ‘world state’ is paradoxical. It depicts the most authoritative agents in international politics as cyphers of a structural change that is one-sided and ultimately unifying rather than, as he implies, mutually constituted and defined by relentless struggle. This ‘agent–structure problem’ is addressed in this paper through a dialogue with Michael Oakeshott’s political philosophy. A more complex ideal type of a ‘world state’ is constructed and contrasted with Wendt’s. This frames an inquiry into the political rhetoric that drives a project of global reform between 2012 and 2022. A new theory of a ‘world state’ is elaborated with reference to: (i) the ‘foundations’ of agent-centred otherness in an international practice of the United Nations Security Council; and (ii) the structure to the moral judgements of a ‘We’. The theoretical conclusion is the logic of these events reveals the origins of a divisive conflict in an international practice which is irreconcilable with Wendt’s ‘progressive’ speculation about the uncontested future of global identity
Argument (complex analysis · Global justice · Global politics · Ideal (ethics · Identity (music · International relations · Politics · Post-realism · Rhetoric · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Globalization and political ideologies · International Relations and Foreign Policy
Thinking about Things
Quantum Mind and Social Science
Experience and its Modes
Social Theory of International Politics
Agency, Teleology and the World State
Competing Visions of Restraint
The logic of idealization in political theory
The Legitimacy of the Collective Authority of the Security Council
The agent-structure problem in international relations theory
Wendt’s Violation of the Constructivist Project
Why a World State is Inevitable
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |