Abstract
The current phase of globalization is one of fundamental erosion in the efficacy of the territorial nation-state and slow implosion of traditional sovereignty-based models of the state system. Combined with the breakdown of the rationalist-universalist ‘consensus,’ sub-state entities up and down the “vertical axis” of diplomacy are increasingly asserting mutually exclusive concepts of power and self-determination that could lead to a potential fragmentation of the basic structures of governance. Linear theories of state development and traditional definitions of sovereignty, with its consequent forms of recognition, urgently need to be revised or the likelihood of a continued disruption of international collaboration, more isolationist or secessionist activism, and even conflict will inevitably rise. Using the state of California as an illustrative case, this is a call for a “positive fragmentation” of the current state-centric system, thus opening space for a truly “global” or “relational” order that is more equitable and provides for the participation of multiple types of entity.
Recommended Citation
Alison R. Holmes
(2025)
"Subnational Diplomacy as 'Positive Fragmentation': Our Best Hope for a Peaceful Collapse of the Nation-State?,"
New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 37:
Iss.
1, Article 13.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol37/iss1/13