Nation States Descriptions Are states still relevant? Realist, cooperative, liberal and critical theories of international relations The realist theory of international politics views states as 'black box' actors. The possibly competing interests of citizens and bureaucrats within the state are ignored. Realism holds that "at its most fundamental level, the national interest is generic and easy to define: all states seek to preserve their political autonomy and their territorial integrity. Once these two interests

S. effort must follow certain guidelines in any such efforts, like for example, it must perforce be for the innate purpose of changing, or propping up the regime. It must also deploy large numbers of U.S. ground troops, and it must also involve these troops, as well as large numbers of civilians in the basic political administration of the country. (U.S. Involvement in Nation Building before Iraq) If all three

Nation of Islam was originally a group known as the Black Muslims (Nation pp). This splinter group is faithful to the Black Muslims' original principles led by Louis Farrakhan (Nation pp). Members strive to improve their social and religious position in society, and the group has won praise for its work in deprived areas (Nation pp). However, its reputation has been tarnished by Farrakhan's anti-Semitic and anti-white beliefs (Nation pp).

Officials in the newly formed Ministry of Finance drew from a talented pool of economists from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Privileged positions were filled from within the bureaucracy and were obtained through exceptional performance instead of cronyism or nepotism. Of great importance to their autonomy, officials were able to disconnect themselves from total reliance on local funding thanks to financial assistance from the international community and reparations from Germany. Two figureheads within the government guaranteed a

Thus, German nationalism and the German nation-state came into being, an entity that existed well into the 19th century. Similarly, the nation of Italy was highly influenced by the events of the French Revolution of 1789 and the outbreak of war between France and Austria in 1793. During this time, a number of important changes occurred within Italy, most of which like Germany were filled with violence and destruction, all

First, six countries (including France and Germany, significantly) signed the Coal and Steel Treaty, which meant that no country could never develop enough military power on their own to mount an invasion of another, this preserving each state and nation in Europe (Europa 2009). The Council of Europe also emerged as an entity in the West (the part of Europe not under Soviet control) that increased political and economic