I reject the terms of the choice.
But for what it's worth, I incline more towards the federalist. The age of the nation-state is over; if it ever happened, it was an historical aberration. It's certainly not as straightforward as it's presented by the tweed-clad boggle-eyed xenophobes of UKIP, who seem to have formed their idea of foreign policy from a battered copy of The Riddle of the Sands.
Again with the chaff about Clarke. It's not relevant to this debate.
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Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Wed 23 Jan 2013, 10:30,
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Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities is my current reading for a project I'm developing
Worth a read, Nation-State, national identity etc are really just concepts co-opted and promoted by the establishment and Monarchies of Europe as their divine right to rule of disparate peoples came under scrutiny. Austria-Hungry is a good example, very complicated construct. Going back further people only cared about their villages, as Knights raped and plundered their way through Europe, who the King was or even the local Lord wasn't really the top of peoples concerns... Fast forward to Global Corporations doing much the same (nasty business in the developing world) The need for oversight by (at least partially) democratic organisations on a large scale is vital.
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Jorvic, Wed 23 Jan 2013, 10:42,
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"formed their idea of foreign policy from a battered copy of The Riddle of the Sands" made me lol out loud
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daveyclayton Gosh, is it really, Wed 23 Jan 2013, 11:26,
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