FEAS RESEARCH E-BULLETIN FEAS E-BULLETIN DECEMBER 2016 | Page 13
Author: Tepeciklioğlu, Ali Onur
Title: A Re-Assesment of the World Society Conceptualization
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ahmet Nuri Yurdusev
Department: International Relations
Date: May 2016
Abstract: This dissertation argues that non-state actors were more apparent, and relatedly, more capable
of controlling and transforming the international relations in the pre-modern period than they are in
the modern. The role of non-state actors is dramatically limited in the modern international society
because of the nation-state, the most centralized and penetrating polity that humankind have ever
established. The organizing principles of the pre-modern international relations were more suitable for
non-state action. World society conceptualization of the English School is adopted in order to develop
this argument. As the existing accounts of the world society concept particularly concentrate on the
possible effects of the values having the potential to be shared globally in the modern international
society, they simply neglect interest-seeking and pre-modern forms of non-state action. For this reason,
this dissertation makes a distinction between the value-based (ideational) and interest-seeking
(functional) world society elements and analyzes their impact on the international system/society with
respect to their aims. According to this distinction, functional world society elements only aim to control
a specific sphere of international relations, while the ideational world society elements seek to reshape
the core foundational principles of the international system/society. In order to support its main
argument, the dissertation analyzes four distinct cases, namely the Roman Catholic Church, Amnesty
International, the Hanseatic League, and International Chamber of Commerce, and compares them with
each other. Main findings of the study show that the non-state dimension of international relations
prevails against the state dimension in the pre-modern international relations.
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