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75 Foreign Aff. 45 (1996)
The Rise of the Virtual State

handle is hein.journals/fora75 and id is 601 raw text is: The Rise of the Virtual State Richard Rosecrance TERRITORY BECOMES PASSE AMID THE supposed clamor of contending cultures and civiliza- tions, a new reality is emerging. The nation-state is becoming a tighter, more vigorous unit capable of sustaining the pressures of worldwide competition. Developed states are putting aside military, political, and territorial ambitions as they struggle not for cultural dominance but for a greater share of world output. Countries are not uniting as civilizations and girding for conflict with one another. Instead, they are downsizing--in function if not in geographic form. Today and for the foreseeable future, the only international civilization worthy of the name is the governing economic culture of the world market. Despite the view of some contemporary ob- servers, the forces of globalization have successfully resisted partition into cultural camps. Yet the world's attention continues to be mistakenly focused on military and political struggles for territory. In beleaguered Bosnia, Serbian leaders sought to create an independent province with an al- legiance to Belgrade. A few years ago Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein aimed to corner the world oil market through military aggression against Kuwait and, in all probability, Saudi Arabia; oil, a product of land, represented the supreme embodiment of his ambitions. In Kashmir, India and Pakistan are vying for territorial dominance over RICHARD ROSECRANCE is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for International Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles. [45]