Nation-State and Global Order: An Historical Introduction to Contemporary Politics

This engaging introduction to contemporary politics examines the historical construction of the modern territorial state. Opello and Rosow fuse accounts of governing practices, technological change, political economy, language, and culture into a narrative of the formation of specific state forms. This revised edition reinforces their central argument that the current neoliberal state does not represent a fandamentally new form, but is an attempt to reconstitute the managerial state in the context of globalization. Incomporating the most recent scholarship, other significant changes in the new edition include more emphasis on the interconnections of state and state-system, discussions of emerging forms of international violence and war, and attention to the increasingly multicultural character of states. Studies of state formation in Congo, England, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, and the U.S. enrich the discussion, which ranges from ancient Rome to the present.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: A Historical Approach to the State and Global Order. The Emergence of the Territorial State. The Ancient Roman State: Imperial Rule. The Feudal State: Indirect Rule. The Medieval State: Territorial Sovereignty Instituted. The Modern Territorial State. The Absolutist State: Sovereignty Unbound. The Liberal Constitutional State: Sovereignty Popularized. The Antiliberal State: Sovereignty Particularized. The Managerial State: Sovereignty Rationalized. Globalizing the Territorial State. The Colonial State: Sovereignty Expanded. The Nation-State: Sovereignty Reimagined. The Postcolonial State: Instituting Sovereignty. Challenges to the State. The Present State of States: Sovereignty Challenged. Conclusion: A New Global Order?

About the Author :
Walter C. Opello, Jr. is professor emeritus of political science. Stephen J. Rosow is professor of political science at the State University of New York, Oswego.

Review :
Praise for the first edition: "The authors treat us, and our students, to a well-conceptualized and compelling array of historical vignettes in the evolution of the 'state'...They provide a valuable tool for teaching the [state's] long and complex history." —Rodney Bruce Hall, International Studies Review "Very good...The Nation-State and Global Order has a straightforward, no-nonsense style that will be easily accessible to students." —Craig Murphy, Wellesley College "An impressive work...rich in historical data and substantive arguments." —Siba Grovogui, Johns Hopkins University