Death of the Nation-State

"In the age of globalisation, pooled sovereignty means more power, not less." 
~ Jose Manuel Barroso 

Interconnectedness is the sign of our times. Globalization theorists were the optimistic  about the full effects of this interconnectedness and some scholars from this school of thought even contemplated the notion of the demise of the Nation-State as we know it.

The world is now more connected than it has ever been in modern history, economies, trade, security and cultural issues have surpassed the traditional notion of statehood. Globalisation theorists posit that this move toward globalisation would lead to an evolution of the human society away from the Sovereign states. However, the State still remains the locus of governance despite the major advances that have been made in how human society interacts.

One may argue that despite the rise of globalisation, the state has managed to hold on to a significant role in international affairs. The state still makes decisions on behalf of its people at the global arena. Though some states go as far as to suppress the voice of its people at the international level. 

The state also holds sway against globalisation because of the question of identity. The citizen’s identity is closely related to their nationality and with that comes a 'loyalty to the state' that may be difficult to leave behind. This makes it difficult to encourage integration with other parts of the world.

On the other hand, despite the Sovereign state’s supremacy in governance, it is indeed dying a slow death. The modern state serves, more and more, an administrative role in modern society as opposed to a substantive role. The argument is that in the face of globalisation, the modern state has become a servant or a facilitator of its people's global activities. This argument suggests that there is a role for the state to play but it is increasingly limited by our ability to connect without the help of the state.

This has led to an increasingly multi-lateral world. There is a realisation in the international system that it is difficult for a state to survive while it is isolated form other states. However, global governance is still a dream that is far from achievement. The world is not yet ready to let go of the sovereign state in terms of governance. However, there is a slow but steady shift and this is in the form of regionalisation. Regionalisation represents the compromise that states are willing to make towards globalisation. Regional organisations such as the European Union and the African Union demonstrate that it is possible to work together and collaborate. However, these collaborations are only with our neighbours and those with whom we share similar interests and culture.

The view from the attache's desk is that the nation-state does have a role to play in governance for the foreseeable future. However, this role is being slowly eroded by globalisation and the first step of moving toward global governance could be regional governance. Perhaps the globalisation theorists will be proved right in the end. Perhaps it was only the period of time needed for globalisation to take root that they got wrong in their predictions.