7 - Hierarchy, Political Order, and Great Power Politics

Summary

The final chapter summarizes the results and main findings of the book and draws out the theoretical and policy implications. First, the cases in this work have shown that expansion depends on variation in weaker states as well as the more powerful. This means that international order is not just a product of the choices of the powerful but also of the weak. Second, state-building and increased nationalism can often result in the surrender of sovereignty. This finding is somewhat counterintuitive; normally state and nation-building is associated with the assertion of sovereignty. However, if attempts to centralize the state and assert national identities exacerbate domestic contestation, they can create conditions that result in reduced sovereignty. Third, resistance to hierarchy often results in less, not more, sovereignty, unless the dominant state is constrained from further expansion. Fourth, international orders in the form of hierarchy can depend heavily on domestic disorder, or at least highly dysfunctional domestic order.