The master's thesis analyses the role of the Mexican drug cartels as an example of transnational non-state actors in the 21st century and their impact on changing the mainstream assumptions about the function and purpose of state in international relations, using the concept of the new medievalism. This concept is a tool used to identify a set of challenges to the existing international system of states. Its main assumption is that changes in international relations, reffered to as trends of the new medievalism, point to a transformation of the international system of states into a system that resembles the political order of the medieval Europe. The master's thesis applies the concept of the new medievalism to the context of the English School, using a reconstruction of the English School that integrates the traditional concepts of the English School (the international system, the international society and the world society) into the concept of the integrated world society. By comparing key features of the medieval understanding of international relations, the traditional Westphalian understanding of international relations and changes brought about in the 21st century by transnational non-state actors, the master's thesis identifies trends of new medievalism in the areas of political power and loyalty, control of state borders and use of force. The case study examines whether the trends of the new medievalism can be identified in the case of the Mexican drug cartels. Master's thesis shows that transnational non-state actors are changing the contemporary international relations in ways that are beginning to resemble the medieval political order.
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