The Rise and Decline of the State or Conquest in Cyberspace

The Rise and Decline of the State

Author: Martin L Van Crevald

The state, which since the middle of the seventeenth century has been the most important of all modern institutions, is in decline. From Western Europe to Africa, many existing states are either combining into larger communities or falling apart. Many of their functions are likely to be taken over by a variety of organizations that, whatever their precise nature, are not states. In this unique volume Martin van Creveld traces the story of the state from its beginnings to its end. Starting with the simplest political organizations that ever existed, he guides the reader through the origins of the state, its development, its apotheosis during the two World Wars, and its spread from its original home in Western Europe to cover the globe. In doing so, he provides a fascinating history of government from its origins to the present day. This original book will of interest to historians, political scientists and sociologists.

Table of Contents:

Introduction;

Part I. Before the State: Prehistory to 1300 AD:

1. Tribes without rulers;
2. Tribes with rulers (chiefdoms);
3. City states;
4. Empires, strong and weak;
5. Limits of stateless societies;

Part II. The Rise of the State: 1300-1648:
6. The struggle against the church;
7. The struggle against the empire;
8. The struggle against the nobility;
9. The struggle against the towns;
10. The monarch's triumph;

Part III. The State as an Instrument: 1648-1789:
11. Building the bureaucracy;
12. Creating the infrastructure;
13. Monopolizing violence;
14. The growth of political theory;
15. Inside the Leviathan;

Part IV. The State as an Ideal: 1789-1945:
16. The great transformation;
17. Disciplining the people;
18. Conquering the money;
19. The road to total war;
20. The apotheosis of war;

Part V. The Spread of the State: 1696-1975:
21. Into Eastern Europe;
22. The Anglo-Saxon Experience;
23. The Latin American experiment;
24. Frustration in Asia and Africa;
25. What everybody has ...;

Part VI. The Decline of the State: 1975-:
26. The waning of major war;
27. The retreat of welfare;
28. Technology goes international;
29. The threat to international order;
30. The withdrawal of faith; Conclusion: beyond the state.

New interesting book: Fitness In Line Skating or Sick Buildings

Conquest in Cyberspace: National Security and Information Warfare

Author: Martin C Libicki

With billions of computers in existence, cyberspace, 'the virtual world created when they are connected,' is said to be the new medium of power. Computer hackers operating from anywhere can enter cyberspace and take control of other people's computers, stealing their information, corrupting their workings, and shutting them down. Modern societies and militaries, both pervaded by computers, are supposedly at risk. As Conquest in Cyberspace explains, however, information systems and information itself are too easily conflated, and persistent mastery over the former is difficult to achieve.