The Nation-State in Question by T. V. Paul (Editor), John A. Hall (Editor), G. John Ikenberry (Editor)

From the Publisher

Has globalization forever undermined the state as the mighty guarantor of public welfare and security? In the 1990s, the prevailing and even hopeful view was that it had. The euphoria did not last long. Today the "return of the state" is increasingly being discussed as a desirable reality. This book is the first to bring together a group of prominent scholars from comparative politics, international relations, and sociology to systematically reassess--through a historical lens that moves beyond the standard focus on the West--state-society relations and state power at the dawn of the twenty-first century.The contributors examine the sources and forms of state power in light of a range of welfare and security needs in order to tell us what states can do today. They assess the extent to which international social forces affect states, and the capacity of states to adapt in specific issue areas. Their striking conclusion is that states have continued to be pivotal in diverse areas such as nationalism, national security, multiculturalism, taxation, and industrial relations. Offering rich insights on the changing contours of state power, The Nation-State in Question will be of interest to social scientists, students, and policymakers alike. John Hall's introduction is followed by chapters by Peter Baldwin, John Campbell, Francesco Duina, Grzegorz Ekiert, Jeffrey Herbst, Christopher Hood, Anatoly Khazanov, Brendan O'Leary, T. V. Paul, Bernard Yack, Rudra Sil, and Minxin Pei. The conclusion is by John Ikenberry.

Foreign Affairs

This impressive volume brings together political scientists and sociologists to assess what effects globalization has had on the state. Simplistic early views of globalization held that increasing openness and interdependence, together with the benign post-Cold War security environment, would rob states of their historical role and capacities while fueling the rise of supranational actors such as the European Union and subnational actors such as nongovernmental organizations. The essays here are part of a later wave of more balanced scholarship that moderates such breathless, often hysterical conclusions. The contributors show that states are not likely to disappear or lose much significance anytime soon. In summing up the findings, the editors note that "as in the past, state capacities continue to evolve, declining in some areas and rising in others. There are no rival political formations — local, regional, transnational, or global — that have the full multidimensional capacities of the state." Although not entirely novel or startling, this conclusion is backed up by an unusually comprehensive collection of historical and comparative research on economic and security issues in the advanced industrial and developing worlds. Unfortunately, as in so much contemporary academic work, many of the chapters are presented in such a way as to minimize their accessibility to intelligent and potentially interested general readers.

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Table of Contents