There is no doubt that states were once the building blocks of the international system because they held sovereignty in the political, security and social domains. However, with globalization, states are subject to external influences and it is questionable whether states are still the fundamental actors in the international system. Cooperation is today becoming a key motivation of the international system. ()This implies that states may have to sacrifice their policies to maintain universal living standards or international peace. Although states remain the ultimate source of power, it is important to accept that the idea of ​​sovereignty is evolving with globalization. However, for the majority of weaker states, they are under the influence of these strong states. It is very important to consider policies in order to see the big picture. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the idea of ​​a sovereign state focused on establishing the legitimacy of a single national authority (O'Neil and Rogowski 68). The government was supposed to exercise complete control over its internal affairs. Therefore, it was expected that no state would have “the right to intervene in the internal affairs of another” (O'Neil and Rogowski 69). The initial establishment of the idea of ​​statehood and sovereignty developed from the concept of a government with overall political power over its territory. Security is one of the major missions that every state strives to accomplish. Creveld specifically states that the primary mission of the state is to fight and defend, because those who fail are “doomed to disappear.” That's because nothing would matter if it didn't exist. U.S. military spending... middle of paper ......t is simply based on the assumption that states should cooperate in order to maintain international peace. ()Works Cited Branstetter, Lee. "Japan." The rise of Asian economies. Heinz College. October 13, 2013. Conference. Creveld, Martin V. “The Destiny of the State”. Parameters (1996): 4-18. August 27, 199. Web. January 21, 2014. “Obama calls for reduction of nuclear weapons. » CNN.com/europe. CNN, April 5, 2009. Web. O’Neil, Patrick H. (2012). The Essentials of Comparative Politics (4th ed.). New York: WW Norton & Co. O'Neil, PH and Rogowski, Ronald. Essential Readings in Comparative Politics, WW Norton & CompanyShah, Anup. “World Military Spending.” Global problems. June 30, 2013. The web. February 27, 2014. "UNODA - Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT)." UN News Centre. United Nations, nd Web. February 18. 2014.