Conclusion: Continuity and Innovation in International Relations Theory

Another type of international change involves shifts in the character of states. Whereas Gilpin's "systems" change refers to transformations in the types of unit-such as change from empire to nation-state-the focus here is on long-term change in the nature of states themselves: absolutist states, constitutional monarchies, fascist states, liberal-democratic, late-industrial

2. For a discussion of identity issues in the ongoing debate between neorealism and its critics, see Jonathan Mercer, "Anarchy and Identity," International Organization vol. 49, no. 2 (Spring 1995):229-252.