World-state formation: historical processes and emergent necessity

Abstract

Recent studies of processes operating in the modern world system imply that the continued existence of the interstate system—the system of multiple, competing, and unequally powerful states—may be a luxury which humanity cannot afford. Because of the destructiveness of modern weaponry the continuation of the legitimacy of warfare as a method for resolving disputes is incompatible with the survival of our world civilization and perhaps also with the survival of life on Earth. This paper examines theories which purport to explain the longevity and structural basis of the contemporary interstate system. These have implications for the possibility of global state formation. Comparative research shows that the modern interstate system is unusually long-lived. I argue that the emergence of capitalist commodity production accounts for the structural resistance of the contemporary interstate system to transformation into a ‘universal empire’. The processes of hegemonic rise and fall of states which operate within the modern system differ significantly from earlier world systems in which capitalist commodity production was less fully institutionalized. Modern hegemonic core states support the multicentric political structure of the interstate system, while dominant states in earlier systems tried to create system-wide imperium. This analysis of the relationship between the logic of accumulation and processes of political centralization has implications for the possibilities of developing a world polity which can prevent the usage of weapons of mass destruction.