Having just read Alex and David’s new paper, I wonder whether the we have not moved away from an Age of Nation-States to an Age of Continents? I don’t mean that continents will replace the nation-state as the primary focus of political sentiments or public policy delivery. The EU shows both how far you can go and the limits to continent-wide, supranational governance.
Rather, I mean that we will be forced to think more “continentally” about how to solve energy problems, trade issues, crime etc. etc. Strictly speaking, of course, this is not new; mankind probably began thinking “continentally” in the 15th century. Conversly, with 9/11 we saw that thinking continentally may not be enough. What happens in one continent….you know the rest.
But we may now be returning to this in a new and different way, as our failure – even by the U.S – to project sustained intercontinental power becomes apparent. Must think about this some more…
