Mark Poster
As a political unit, the nation is facing an ever-expanding set of challenges. Modern systems of transportation and communication facilitate global exchanges of commodities, populations and information, often evading the borders and jurisdictions of the nation state. Faced with an increasingly interconnected globe, the nation may no longer be able to sustain its territorial hegemony. Some commentators conclude that the nation-state has ceased to be a viable political entity, placing democracy itself in jeopardy. Most observers, however, note with some trepidation the globalizing trends that put the nation into question. In this essay I shall focus on one such trend with attention to its impact on the nation state faces: the globalization of culture.