State Freedom and International Order: The Co-Evolution of Ideas

This paper argues that understandings of what it means for a state to be free constitute an important element of the conceptual milieu of modern international relations. In the 17th and 18th century, it was commonplace for both diplomats and pamphleteers to refer to the liberty or freedom of states, most often in contrast to the tyranny of hegemonic aspirations. This paper argues that despite the declining prominence of explicit references to state freedom in international discourse since the turn of the 19th century, implicit understandings of what it means for a state to be free have nonetheless played a significant role in informing ideas about how best to conduct international relations. In this way, evolving ideas of the freedom of the state have been implicated in the development of international norms and institutions.