ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a discussion of 'responsibility' and summarises five criteria to judge 'being responsible or not'. It introduces 'state' as the subject, and explains 'international responsibility' on the basis of two theories from the English school. The chapter explains the term through China's and Africa's interpretation and develops the criteria of 'responsibility'. The chapter aims to establish a reasonable standard for state's responsibility which would lay a conceptual foundation and scope for further argument. Historically, states have developed a sovereign border within which the government takes charge of the behaviour of the state in bilateral and multilateral dealings. International regulations and rules define the legal obligations of states in terms of retrospective responsibility; clarifying what laws constrain their actions, and what consequences they would be subject to if they broke these laws. Two international relations theories, such as, realism and liberalism are concerned with the dilemma between national interests and international responsibility.
