ABSTRACT
This chapter studies the ontological metaphor that forms the foundation of the great majority of structural metaphors for international relations, namely, states-as-persons. It argues that, in expert usage, states are regularly understood as people with bodies, genders, emotions and wills. In these metaphorical conceptualizations, the health, strength and maturity of people often correspond to GNP/capita, military capabilities and core-like production processes of states. The chapter demonstrates how both IR scholars, political leaders and the media constantly refer to states as actors capable of contemplating and deciding, talking with each other and making moves in the international arena. It also discusses actors and points of view that are typically disregarded by the states-as-persons metaphor – or the focus on person-like states – such as the concerns of individual people or the interests of humanity as a whole.
