ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the literature in the debate as to why some civilizations rise, while others decline or stagnate. It outlines the arguments may be seen to fall broadly into the environmental or the institutional camps, though there is a degree of overlap, the emphasis varies among theorists. The chapter involves consideration of the theoretical modelling that has been proposed for civilizations, but with stress upon that which is most immediately applicable to the state, as distinct from the civilization. The difference here is that the civilization is political, social and economic, while the state has a particularly strong political aspect. The concept of the state is not unassailable, as has been seen in the few modern examples that have of supra-national political entities. The state's potential loss of power and autonomy to regulate economic and social activity, as well as to protect individual rights, has been accepted by the member states of the European Union.
