On Wednesday, 25 March 2015, the Charlemagne Institute for European Studies (ICEE) held the seminar “The Origin of the State in the Euro-Mediterranean Area”, which included a lecture by Dr. Víctor Sánchez, Professor of International Law at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. The seminar was held as part of a research group led by Dr. Carlos Espaliú that focuses on core issues in contemporary international society.
At the lecture, Sánchez presented the findings of his study on the emergence of states. These findings could have a major impact on classic state theory: according to Sánchez, it is possible to demonstrate that states and interstate relationships originated in the Euro-Mediterranean region and that they date to long before the 15th century.
International law has traditionally placed the origin of the modern state (i.e. a new form of human territorial organization) in the period from the 15th to the 16th century. Sánchez refuted this theory by presenting a wealth of evidence and documentation gathered in his research that he believes demonstrates that the origin of the most basic forms of the state and international law can be situated in the second millennium BC in the ancient Near East – that is to say, in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
The seminar was part of a wide array of activities organized by the Charlemagne Institute for European Studies. Other activities include lectures, collaboration between the one-year postgraduate programme in Diplomatic and Consular Law and the Bar Association of Barcelona, and a conference that will take place in November 2015.
