ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to present a note of caution against the uncritical acceptance of some of the more exaggerated predictions about the world in the 21st Century where borders vanish and the first global civilisation is created. It argues that the present system of nation states will change in form and function largely in response to the powerful impulses collectively known as globalisation. The debate about the future of the state intensified during the 1980s as the trend towards globalisation accelerated, not least because capitalism extended its influence dramatically throughout the world with the demise of the Marxist alternative. The durability of the nation state is proven by two major sets of evidence - the emergence of new states, and the behaviour of existing states. The emergence of several ‘fourth world’ people demanding autonomy is a reaction to the globalisation process which threatens regional and national cultures.
