The topic of the thread says it all - I'm curious what's to come after our system of nation states. If you have thoughts of your own, or are familiar with any theorist/theory that has speculated on this question, please share.
Personally, I think it's a pretty open ended question with many possibilities. I'm not convinced that we'll ever have a much tighter 'global' system than already exists, as once a territorial unit of land becomes too large there becomes too many competing priorities. This seems to be the case in the EU where the health of varying members varies so widely that it creates tension between the strongest and weakest members. I can't imagine this dynamic ever being applied on a global scale. We are simply too tribal and nationalistic. Perhaps we will continually organize ourselves into bigger blocs.
And yet I don't see the state system going away either, save environmental calamity. If the structure of human society is ever to be re-ordered, I guess that it will likely come from a major change in climate, or composition of the earth's atmosphere. Something which affects humanity so much that the current system will largely break down. That's not to say that we'll become extinct, but maybe that it will mark a new era of human history.
Personally, I think it's a pretty open ended question with many possibilities. I'm not convinced that we'll ever have a much tighter 'global' system than already exists, as once a territorial unit of land becomes too large there becomes too many competing priorities. This seems to be the case in the EU where the health of varying members varies so widely that it creates tension between the strongest and weakest members. I can't imagine this dynamic ever being applied on a global scale. We are simply too tribal and nationalistic. Perhaps we will continually organize ourselves into bigger blocs.
And yet I don't see the state system going away either, save environmental calamity. If the structure of human society is ever to be re-ordered, I guess that it will likely come from a major change in climate, or composition of the earth's atmosphere. Something which affects humanity so much that the current system will largely break down. That's not to say that we'll become extinct, but maybe that it will mark a new era of human history.