The 13S of Statecraft: The Structural Elements
The previous article in this series covered the theory of statecraft. In this article, the emphasis shifts to the core elements of statecraft. Together, they constitute a series of tools that a professional in the field can invoke to audit, diagnose, and define the vital tools for comprehensive strategic statecraft solutions. These are 13 vital elements of statecraft, which all happen to start with the letter "S". They are discussed below as follows:
1. Sovereignty & Security: Three elements define a state: (1) sovereignty, (2) territorial integrity, and (3) political independence[1]. Sovereignty is a hierarchical structure that ends with an ultimate authority in a given territory. Territorial integrity implies the state must have clear boundaries or a scope within which it can function. Political independence refers to the autonomy and freedom of the state to make decisions and stand by them. The sovereign authority of a state must secure the realm. This means they must control the use of power and resources in ways that ensure the safety and preservation of lives and properties in the realm. This is the primary element of statehood.
2. Subject Selfhood: A sovereign rules over people called subjects. Without subjects, a head of government is non-existent. The story is told of a volcano that erupted on a Caribbean Island and killed everyone except one troublemaker who was locked in solitary confinement.[2]. Assuming this was a sovereign state, the sole survivor could not logically claim sovereign authority over the state for the lack of subjects. All the same, "subjects" give credence to a "sovereign". Statecraft is strongly linked to how the subjects define themselves constitutionally in absolute and relative terms. In most cases, this is a dichotomy between rights and responsibilities. In the old medieval state, an individual's personhood was premised on their proximity or service to the king of their country. Thus, responsibility to the sovereign was the primary medieval definition of selfhood. In some modern absolute monarchies, responsibility-driven definitions of citizenship and subject selfhood are the norm. For most liberal democratic states today, subject selfhood is premised on a series of rights and civil liberties guaranteed by a written constitution for every individual citizen. This shapes almost every institution, system, and structure in a country.
3. Social Contract, Synthesis, & Stability: The social contract refers to the model or primary idea that defines the relationship between the people and the sovereign and between subject and subject. In practice, these are the pointers defining the legitimacy of the sovereign and the authorities representing them. Thus, the social contract sets the tone for determining a state's legitimacy. This is central to understanding the structure of statecraft in any jurisdiction and can be used to project future trends for better governance.
4. Symbols & Seals: Human beings respond to signs and symbols. Each of them is a signifier of something that lives deep in the memories of the subjects and government. Symbols are, therefore, high points that are connoted in a representation that defines specific things within the statecraft structure. It is essential to dramatize vital milestones and pointers to preserve the status quo and steer the people in particular directions. Seals refer to the signs of the devolution of power from the sovereign to the lower ranks. This ensures obedience and compliance to the highest authority of the land.
5. Shared Values: As a statecraft system develops over time. People come to accept specific values as a definitive part of their identities. Shared values are soft elements that define the fundamental beliefs and principles that guide the people of a community. They are "soft" because they are ideological, often prescriptive, and not enforced rigidly.
6. Standardization: This is the application of formal standards and rules throughout the territory of the statecraft. Thus, the most efficient practices and formal rules that define the coordination of affairs in the realm become a primary element of statecraft within the realm and at a point in time. The principle of "supremacy" means that the standards that each generation within the state structure defines as appropriate for their time and affairs are what is standardized. This could be done through parliament (thereby called "parliamentary supremacy") or some legislative system (legislative supremacy). Such rulings are standardized through various agencies that ensure that the most efficient methods for the state system are deployed across the realm. There may be gaps, which will ultimately define strengths and weaknesses and other dynamics that explain distribution in the statecraft system.
7. Sacred & Sacrilege: This refers to the informal or traditional system that shapes the ethical and moral structures that define the society. It embodies the limits and structures that lead to the steering and direction of the "shared values" of the people defined above. This is in the domain of society's informal and lower echelons, which start from family heads to heads of religious, traditional, and other arms of local government and social cohesion systems. This leads to the dos and don'ts of the different units of society, which ultimately come to define the culture and software of the minds[3].
8. Segmentation refers to the different publics and stakeholder groups that exist within the statecraft structure. Since the need for acceptable consensus-building drives statecraft, the different groups in society with varying capabilities of power and interests in statecraft issues become the basis for defining the different groups to which statecraft must be sensitive and/or responsive. This forces the sovereign to balance competing interests and power dynamics to create a synthesis that ensures the state's functionality.
9. State-to-State Structures & International Systems: This is premised on the Westphalian model of international relations, which defines the recognition of states in our modern era. Thus, the placement and positioning of a state in the family of nations and its ability to maneuver and seek the best interests of the state internationally become a fundamental aspect of statecraft. Most states' ability to negotiate efficiently and effectively in international affairs determines how much they can thrive and survive.
10. Sustenance & Savings: This is about the economic inflows internationally and locally. Thus, the ability to trade and earn foreign exchange to fund the public purse is fundamental to sustenance. The ability of the people and private sector to produce, earn money, save, and build up wealth determines how well the statecraft machine can be fueled to meet its goals and ends locally and internationally.
11. Settlement (Legal & Geographic): How the people build communities, cities, towns, and other habitation zones is essential. Once they live at a specific location, the ability to resolve disputes and set clear legal standards is central to statecraft. Throughout the 1800s, the British used a functional system of settlement expansion along the coastlines of different continents to create thriving urban settlements with efficient court systems for commercial and other dispute resolution systems. Such urban centers grew tremendously over the years and became the foundations of many of today's mega-cities. Statecraft everywhere is driven significantly by the system of settlement expansion and how people who move into new settlements can go about their activities easily or otherwise.
12. Scholarship & Science: This refers to the systems of education and training that sustain the current technological age of the state in question. Technology strategies and how people are trained to develop empirical methods of applying the most efficient practices significantly shape statecraft. Thus, the educational policy and transition to the application of these ideas determine the human development level, which, in turn, shapes statecraft tremendously.
13. Syndication & Signposting: This refers to statecraft systems' collaboration, communication, and agenda-setting. Who determines the topical issues in the state is essential. What has become known as the Arab Spring resulted from the new media's ability to allow citizens and groups to bypass the mainstream broadcasting and mass media system, which was largely state-controlled. Thus, whoever sets the agenda creates the signpost that guides and steers the people. Syndication is how people collaborate in formal settings and informal communication to influence and direct different affairs within the statecraft system.
In conclusion, these thirteen points set the parameters for engagement and the formation of statecraft. They also determine change and the introduction of innovations in the broader sense. They are generic and comprehensive. However, they can be converged for a deeper understanding of a statecraft context. The next article will analyze and define a functional set of parameters that help track and direct statecraft more directly and efficiently.
[1] Recognized in the United Nations Charter, Article 2(4)
[2] The 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée in the Martinique island of Sanit-Pierre killed all the 30,000 inhabitants, leaving only Ludger Sylbaris (1874-1929) and two other known survivors who were severely burnt by the hot ashes.
[3] see Geert Hofstede’s Culture & Organizations: Software of the Mind New York: McGraw Hill