ABSTRACT
An international system consists of a group of interacting behavior units called "nations" or "countries," to which may sometimes be added certain supra-national organizations, such as the United Nations. The images which are important in international systems are those which a nation has of itself and of those other bodies in the system which constitute its international environment. A nation is some complex of the images of the persons who contemplate it, and as there are many different persons, so there are many different images. In the formation of the national images, however, it must be emphasized that impressions of nationality are formed mostly in childhood and usually in the family group. A nation is a body of people who are conscious of having "gone through something" together. The territorial aspect of the national state is important in the dynamics of international relations because of the exclusiveness of territorial occupation.
