As the world undergoes rapid technological and economic change so too the roleand functions of the State are being challenged. There are those who argue thattha... » 

As the world undergoes rapid technological and economic change so too the roleand functions of the State are being challenged. There are those who argue thatthat the nation state has come to an end and that we are entering a new phasein the territorial ordering of the world system. Others hold that boundarieshave disappeared and that a globalized world has no need or use for artificialmanmade territorial barriers.The contributions here seek to determine the extent to which states andboundaries have in fact disappeared or are simply changing their functionsas we move from an era of fixed territories into a postWestphalian territorialsystem. A group of international political geographers and political scientistsexamine the changing nature of the state pointing to significant changes onthe one hand but equally noting the continued importance of territory andboundaries in determining the political ordering of the postmodern world. «