ABSTRACT

When people talk of globalization, the aspects they have in mind are mostly technological, informational and financial. The chapter consists of a brief introduction to the period before the French Revolution when, in the absence of a strong bond between states and their peoples, much of military life bore a markedly international character. It explains how the period after 1789 saw the rise of nationalism in the military field, as indeed it did in any other; ending in 1939—1945 which represented both the culminating-point of the process and the beginning of a change. The chapter introduces the main argument and the impact of globalization on armed forces and war. It explores a dimension of globalization that is only very seldom mentioned, namely its impact on war and the military. The modern state is a relatively new invention. To be sure, its antecedents may already be seen in the French, English and Spanish monarchies of the 15th and 16th centuries.