the (ir)relevance of nation states in a global world

The group of essays here dealing with the (ir)relevance of national borders continue to address the issue of whether culture matters in creating regional unity and, whether they think national borders are relevant or not in today's world, they add significantly to Huntington's argument of culture in approaches to look at and regulate today's world.

Ohmae:

The growing relevance of the regional, rather than the nation states: such as northern Italy, Alsace-Lorraine, Hong Kong-Canton area, Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia.

Definition of region state: linked more to the global economy and not their home economies, sharing certain characteristics, such as airport, infrastructure/consumption/professional services. (95)

Region states are by nature more concerned with the region and not with the nation and this creates their open economies; once this trend is reversed, economies suffer (e.g. Silicon Valley, p.98).

Ceglowski:

States do matter: take the example of Canadian/U.S. trade: bound by their state boundaries.

Reasons: historical reasons of tariff; barrier of currency differences and exchange variations over time.

 

Slaughter:

State border become less and less relevant as courts increasingly align over the world over judicial rules and regulations, transgovernmental organizations (e.g. NGOs) network to achieve what governments are limited at.