The Decline of the Nation State?

This is a perennial question within the topic of Globalisation – three cases this week that illustrate arguements both for and against the continued power of Nation States –

Firstly, there is the relationship between America and Iran – Events this week suggest that the ‘undeclared war on Iran is hotting up’ – This week saw the assassination of the fourth nuclear scientist in Iran in 2 years – which comes on top of the susnet computer virus and a series of unexplained recent explosions at Iran’s nuclear power plants – while we can’t actually prove it – a lot of fingers are pointing at Israel and the The USA which is extremely unhappy about Iran’s ‘quest for Nukes’. The USA has also put an oil embargo on Iran which is encouraging other Nation States to follow suit.

Is the Nation State getting less or more powerful in the age of Globalisation?

A second example is The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) which would have given the US government more power to close down sites associated with piracy – and to stop American sites that link to foreign piracy sites – which initially seems like the State asserting its power over global information flows. The bill, however, has now stalled thanks to widespread opposition – most noteably through a Wikipedia (also joined by other online knowledge sharing sites) blackout on Weds 18th January – which claimed that this legislation could be devastating to a ‘free and open web’. Whether or not this legisation goes through – it’s probalby best to see this as an example of the declining influence of the Nation State as if it doesn’t – it’s popular global opiniion working against the US – and if it doesn’t = it’s just an example of the state doing the bidding of International Media Conglomerates who own many entertainment rights and support such legislation – Murdoch supports it!

Finally, there is the issue of the devolution of Scotland – which is a bit more ambiguous – roughly equal amounts of Scots support and oppose devolution – and if devolution happens, it isn’t yet clear what it will look like – Will it mean that one more nation will be added to the current 195? or will Scotland be sort of part of the UK but not totally independent?  So does this mean the Nation State is becoming less, or more significant? Frankly, where the later is the case I dunno – but the role and nature of it’s certainly changing…

Further reading

Article – 2006 – on the Decline of the Nation State

Guardian Article – Ulrich Beck – Nation State Politics can only fail the problems of the modern world

Ebook/ essay – 2009 – Is Globalisation causing the decline of the Nation State?

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