Empire,hegemony And Region:The Power Boundaries And The Evolution Of The Eastern Question

The Eastern Question, since 19th century had been a complex issue in international relations history, in some sense , World War I can be seen as an extension and a sudden explosion of the Eastern Question. After a century, the heritage of the Eastern Question still existes in contemporary international relations, and then constructs the historical roots of some hot issues. The Eastern Question stretch for a few hundreds years.There are some preferences and prejudice on the Eastern Question.It is necessary for us to adopt a comprehensive and objective perspective to study the question, which is guidance for international history compilation and the trend of international society. In this dissertation, empire, hegemony and region which state capacity as a core concept construct a theoretical framework for the evolution of The Eastern Question in hundreds of years to strive to realize the integration of theory and history.Chapter 1 Empires: Connotations and TypesEmpire is not only organizational formation in world history, but also landscape in pro-modern international order. The rise and fall of a few empires were the most important roles in thousands of years, so, it is necessary to grasp the connotation and essence of empire. The empire complex is a cognitive perspective of the evolution of world history, which is lost in academic research. It is necessary to get free from the empire complex to restore truth of empires. In this dissertation, empires are defined as a human organization formation with multiple-layer boundaries of power. Empire Of agriculture, nomadic empire and colonial empire are three forms of empire in world history, and then, identifying and recognizing the three empires can grasp the connotation and essence of the empire. The multiple-layer boundaries of power is greatest common divisor for different kinds of empires, as a result, empires can be categorized to time empire and space empire, the former survived in the flow of time; the latter existed in some fixed space with little change. There are three feathers of time empire: the first is the changing boundary in every time, expansion or collapse in a short time; the second is edge in which kind of blocs fight; the third is single power such as military force or religious doctrines to realize governance.Chapter 2 State and State CapacityThe state capacity framework supplies a new perspective for empire, state and sovereignty. Max Webber and Karl Marx propose two different kinds of state theory and academic paths of International Relations, the former stresses state autonomy, the latter gave attentions to internal structure and function of state. The state capacity theory integrated the two state theories which can form a comprehensive perspective.Not only state but empire can be seen as an organizational network with different kinds of power. It is sate capacity that means different composition and distribution of power. In this dissertation, we raise a ideal state capacity structure analogous to"nail". The concept of state capacity in international relations studies has multiple advantages: it gets rid of fog of sovereignty theory to clarify the historical evolutions of state formations; it breaks up the barrel between inner and outer, and reveals the myth of the rise and fall of great power. Of course, state capacity theory applied to the study of history needs to pay attentions to time-space difference. The changes of state capacity means the divisions and reconstructions of time-space, as the time, the boundaries has undergone drastic changes, as a result, the change of boundaries can be seen as a core index of state capacity.Chapter 3 From empire to sovereign state: multiple-layer to single boundaryEmpire is an organizational formation of multiple-layer power. With the evolution of state capacity, empire was gradually replaced by sovereign states with the most outstanding character of single power boundary. We take the Roman empire as an example, it experienced three stage of hegemony, time empire and space empire. There are two roads to modern sovereign state,one is endogenous state, the other is exogenous state. The Western European states had grown up in a closed environment. The dynamic of endogenous states came from internal affairs such as financial pressure, technological innovation, bureaucratic system therefore, military technology innovation, the pressure of war also advanced the state building. Hundreds of year later, the endogenous state integrated different power boundaries into a single power boundary, built stable state institutes to dissolving kinds of challenges. The exogenous state had undergone the pressure of modernity with the expansion of international system. The exogenous state had different state capacity with formal sovereignty from international law. The region with strong and long tradition of state can rebuild effective and proportionate state capacity structure, and then, became a great power in international arena. The state based on tribes and family experienced a long and painful process to a successful state.Chapter 4 The Connotation and Periodization of The Eastern QuestionThe Eastern question complex and rich in content needs new conceptual framework for historical interpretation. In this dissertation, empire, hegemony and region are the key words to interpret the historical development and evolutions of The Eastern Question. Empire and hegemony are forms of organization as well as evolutionary logics appeared interactively, and presented a trend that an empire would convert to hegemony. An empire is an organizational unit, as well as an international system; while hegemony is an international system with a dynamic equilibrium. The complex relationship between the two indicates the complexity and variety of evolving international relations. The scale and intensity of the war have different performance in the empire and hegemony system, and distinguishing the nature of war will be able to better grasp the trend of international relations. As a new international order, region based on sovereign state raise after empires collapse.Scholars have three interpretations on The Eastern Question: the first one is Marx and Engels', during the Crimean War, Marx and Engels wrote many comments on the war. The second one is the Clash of Civilizations, which interpreted the issue in the background of long confrontation between Islamic and Christian civilizations, increasing the heavy sense of history. The third one is geopolitical views which profoundly grasp the struggles for strategic points among the powers. The dissertation will interpret and periodize The Eastern Question by a new framework including empire hegemony and region.Chapter 5 Empire, War and the Emergence of PeripheryThe Ottoman Empire army's invasion to the Europe marked a new era coming, in the next hundreds of years, the Ottoman empire, the war between Russia and the Habsburg Empire recreated the Balkan with compete and wars. The Balkan changed from Ottoman's periphery to the common periphery of the three empires. In the periphery, various power boundaries superimposed, which created unique geopolitical feathers in the Balkan.Chapter 6 The Eastern Question in Hegemonic SystemThe transformation from empire to hegemony is the result of the imperial war as well as the expansion and extension of the modern international relations. Since 17th century, the international system taking West Europe as center had been expanded, and eventually embraced the whole Europe. The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars changed the organizing principles of the state, as a result, nationalism became the most powerful ideology which put great pressure on the traditional boundary of empire. As the European economy continued to grow, private property and market economy expanded rapidly, political power divided from the economy, and then, market take the most role of move of surplus value.Ottoman Empire has reformed facing the impact of modernity, as well as the periphery fall into enemy's hands. The nationalism, penetration of market economy and the intervention of powers made Ottoman empire to slip in the direction of international system. There was a multiple-level international system focusing on Eastern Question, and then, Eastern Question transformed from imperial wars among the three empires to the peace and adjustment of the international system.Chapter 7 The rise of region and the end of The Eastern QuestionThe nationalism originated in Europe and spreading to the whole world not only reconstructed the power structure of modern state, but also made a bridge between empire and region. The Balkan nationalism leveraged the existed geopolitical structure and remade the social political space. With Ottoman power ebbed, the Balkan national state flourished, as a result, the periphery of empires changed to regional international system. Pan - slavism and Pan-hellenism pushed a Balkan alliance forward. The two Balkan war indicated that the Eastern Question had undergone fundamental transformation. The Balkan as a self-evident unit emerged on international stage. In the whole 20th century, the Balkan region was in division and reorganization, which was the heritage of The Eastern Question lasting hundreds of years.