ABSTRACT
International society became global in the aftermath of the Second World War with the decline of European powers and the ensuing process of decolonization. Most of the others accomplished that in the 20th century – Bulgaria and Poland obtained sovereignty in the first half of the century while and Slovakia achieved it in the aftermath of the Cold War. Four broad conclusions is drawn from the empirical case studies presented in this book. To begin with, the empirical investigations confirmed that collective memories of empire and suzerainty are important tools in the process of building sovereign states. Second, the book has ventured into how narratives about one's imperial past have been used as a marker of entrants' identity. Third, it demonstrates how memories of empire were used by political elites in these states as frames through which international society was understood. Fourth, the book outlines how historical memories of suzerainty were politically contested and essentially unstable.
