ABSTRACT
The major question of this volume is whether nation-states have a future. There is no doubt that nations will have a future, but the characteristics of nation-states will undoubtedly change. Whether or not these political entities remain states as well as nations will depend on how much each can retain of its own self-determination; some will succeed at this more than others. 1 The imperatives of new international trade agreements provide the impetus for the proliferation of minimalist states whose major function for the international regime will be to control their own people to ensure that they conform to international trade rules. This role for the state coincides with the other functions of the state associated with Reagan and Thatcherite neo-liberal policies, functions which do not go much beyond the administration of justice and, most importantly, the protection of property. Even the traditional justifications for state formation, which in Canada involved moving the mail and national defence, are being gradually abandoned.
