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Prescribing the Decline of the State

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Liberal Internationalism and the Decline of the State

Part of the book series: The Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought ((PMHIT))

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Abstract

This chapter analyzes the normative elements in the decline-of-thestate hypothesis. It provides a critical interpretation of what roles Cobden, Mitrany, and Ohmae ascribe to the state in domestic affairs, and relates their visions of how the state should be organized to contemporary ideological trends and fashions regarding the ideal role of national governments. The analysis focuses on the tensions between Cobden, Mitrany, and Ohmae’s rhetoric of state decline and their visions of what ought to be the proper roles of states. Their proposals for what governments should do in domestic affairs and the key roles they should occupy in national communities sit uneasily with their more exalted criticisms of the inherent flaws in state institutions, as well as their calls for retrenchment (Cobden), transcending the nation-state (Mitrany), and the end of the nation-state (Ohmae).

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Notes

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  1. Per A. Hammarlund
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© 2005 Per A. Hammarlund

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Hammarlund, P.A. (2005). Prescribing the Decline of the State. In: Liberal Internationalism and the Decline of the State. The Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403980366_5

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