Many people (including myself) have said that the modern nation-state--just over 250 years old--is nearing the end of its useful life. Some day I will go into the reasons or the causes but for now I will just point to the many others who have said the same thing. The lesson may be that governance over more than just a few hundred thousand people is impractical in today's world but regardless, the days of the nation-state are numbered.
Some say that it will be replaced with what could be characterized as a market-state. I don't know much about this theory except that it appears to align with the long-standing assertion that we owe more and more of our allegiance and livelihood to the private sector (corporations, etc.) than to the government to which we remit our cash in the form of taxes. Again, I will save the details on corporate rule for another post but only note that the market-state, most commonly associated with the author, Philip Bobbitt, supports the growing recognition that multi-national corporations rule the world--including those presidents, prime ministers, legislators and members of parliament who are purported to govern.
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