November 9 2017 – The short-lived reign of nation states is in decline. They are, after all, a late-comer to history. As recently as the mid-19th century, the world was divided into empires, city states and fledgling nation states. The last only started consolidating in the 20th century. And as the end of the Cold War shows, nation states – with their defined borders, central governments, imagined communities, and sovereign authority – are neither inevitable nor eternal.
There is less clarity about what happens in a world without them. As nation states succumb to the pressures of populism and secessionism, the question is what kind of global order (or disorder) emerges in their place?
Read the article by Robert Muggah (GPM Advisory Committee) on the website of World Economic Forum.