Second natures: Is the state identical with itself?

This article analyses existing assumptions about state identity within contemporary International Relations theory, arguing that the quest for the identity of the state leads to either circularity or regress. Departing from commonsensical criteria of self-identity such as indivisibility, distinctness and spatiotemporal continuity, this article examines how these criteria are interpreted and applied within essentialist, institutionalist, historicist and poststructuralist theories of International Relations, depending on their different background understandings of the relationship between problems of being and problems of knowing. The article ends by suggesting a reconceptualization of the state in terms of proper identity.