Can the nation state survive?

• Published in: World today Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 34 - 35
• Main Author: Grant, Mark Lyall
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Royal Institute of International Affairs 01.02.2018
• Subjects: Borders; Central government; Elections; Electronic government; Empires; Extremism; Governance; Immigration; Imperialism; Intergovernmental relations; International relations; Internet; Localism; Mass media; Merkel, Angela; Multinational corporations; Nation states; Nationalism; Orwell, George (Eric Blair) (1903-1950); Personal view; Politics; Profits; Regionalism; Religion; Social media; Social networks; Sovereignty; State; Taxation; Treaties; Trump, Donald J; Puerto Rico; Sudan; Scotland; Libya; Syria; Middle East; Kosovo; Ireland; China; Quebec Canada; Iraq; New York; United Kingdom > UK; South Sudan; United States > US; Timor-Leste; California; Western Europe; India; Canada; Turkey; Texas; Mexico; Montenegro; Yemen
• ISSN: 0043-9134; 2059-7495

Grant cites that all nation states are at a crossroads. We are so used to governance structures based on sovereign, self-governing countries that we forget that these structures started with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Before that, international relations were conducted between a mixture of countries, empires and city states, all with fluid and shifting borders. Look at the pressures that now bear down on a country. The first is regionalism. The European Union is the most developed form of regionalism, stemming from the view that pooling resources and sovereignty was the best way to prevent excessive nationalism leading to European conflict. At the other end of the scale, localism is also on the rise. Individual communities are demanding from national governments a greater ability to manage their own affairs. Multinational corporations by definition operate across borders. Hence the difficulty that the British government and others have in ensuring that such companies pay the requisite tax on profits generated in the UK; or in persuading the Tech companies to prevent their platforms being abused to spread extremism.The internet itself is another threat to the nation state as it, by definition, does not respect borders. Social media has changed the nature of politics in most democracies. The internet has enabled foreign interference in elections, as well as the transmission of pernicious material.