Cambridge University Press | ISBN: 052165629X | 1999 | PDF | 448 pages | 1.8 MB

The state, which since the middle of the seventeenth century has been the most important and most characteristic of all moderninstitutions, is in decline. From Western Europe to Africa, either voluntarily or involuntarily, many existing states are either combining into larger communities or falling apart. Regardless of whether they fall apart or combine, already now many of their functions are being taken over by a variety of organizations which, whatever their precise nature, are not states.