The future of the state

Abstract

I suggest three major modalities of state in the present international system: they are the postmodern states in the OECD-world, the weak post-colonial states mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and the modernizing states, mainly in Asia, Latin America, and parts of Eastern Europe. Postmodern states have developed due to the changes that modern states have undergone since the end of World War II, sparked by the combined processes of economic globalization and political integration. Weak, post-colonial states emerged in the process of decolonization. Pre-colonial patrimonial structures and colonial ‘divide-and-rule’ dominance were of course also significant elements defining the nature of weak statehood. Modernizing states combine features of the modern, postmodern, and weak statehood ideal types in different mixtures. Some of them (e.g. China) were never weak states; others (e.g. India, Brazil) were weak once but have developed modern and some postmodern features as well. Four major aspects of statehood are in focus: the political level (government); the level of national community (nationhood); the economic basis (economy); and the institution of sovereignty. The chapter discusses the prospects for these major types of state in the present international system.