General Introduction

The nation-state as we know it today is a product of European Modernity. It is a fruit of the European Enlightenment. From the 17^th to the 20^th Century, the European states spread the concept of the state around the globe through their colonial empires, which were driven by commercial interests and justified by missionary zeal. Within today's globalised world all states regard themselves as equal and sovereign members of the community of states. All have adopted the same fundamental political philosophy from the Enlightenment. The question however which must be asked is: Can the Enlightenment, which centuries ago secularised the state by separating it from the Christian religion, lead us into the future? Is the state of modernity able to solve the current and the future problems of today's globalised world?