國家起源與國際關係演變

An Overlook of the Origin of the State and the Evolution of International Relation

國家是人群的組合，在古代或許以部族、城邦、封建王國等等的名稱或形式出場於世界舞台，直至17世紀，主權國家正式登場，並確立國家的現代意義。只是主權國家在近、現代以來出現許多超乎想像的發展，有發展出超國家聯盟關係者（如歐洲聯盟）；有殖民母國與過去的殖民地獨立之後，形成大家庭式的關係者（如大英國協），甚至發展出共同元首的國家關係（如英國與加澳紐關係）；也有原為聯邦，因部分邦獨立之後而成為政經合作的夥伴關係者（如獨立國協）。更有同文同種，但形成不同發展模式者（如統一前的東西德模式與目前的南北韓模式）。此外，在國與國的關係中有將國防、外交委託他國的自由聯合國家的特殊事例。因此，本文擬先概略式的介紹國家起源的哲學基礎，討論當代國際關係的主要行動者─國家是如何產生的？其次，本文進而檢視近、現代以國家為主體的國際關係之演變，最後則是結語。

A state is a community of people. In ancient times it appeared in the forms of tribes, city states, and feudal kingdoms. ＂The Sovereign state＂ in the modern sense debuted in the Seventeenth Century. Lately it has developed into various forms: some extend beyond nations and construct a supranational union (e.g., the European Union), some colonies and the former mother country form a family-like relationship (e.g., the Commonwealth), some of which even sharing a single monarch (e.g., the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia), and certain members of a disbanded federation would regroup into political and economic partnerships (e.g., the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS). Moreover, some states sharing a common language and ethnicity would become different polities (e.g., the Two Koreas and the Two Germanys before unification). In addition, there exist special cases where one country delegates its defense and foreign policies to another and form a free association. This article begins with an introduction to the philosophical foundation of the origin of states to examine how the major actors in modern international relations came into being. Then it proceeds to discuss the developments of recent and contemporary international relations in which states are the entities, before finally reaches a conclusion.