1. What's at stake in the 'second state debate'? Concepts and issues ---- Part I. Traditional theories of the state and international relations. 2. Realism --- 3. Liberalism ---- Part II. Recent sociological theories of the state and international relations. 4. Marxism 5. Constructivism --- 6. Weberian historical sociology ---- Part III. Conclusion: proposing a 'structurationist' theory of the 'constitutive' state and global politics. 7. Summarising and resolving the 'second state debate'