Book Reviews Ali Khan, L. The Extinction of Nation-States: A World without Borders. The Hague, London, Boston: Kluwer International, 1996. Pp. viii, 245. Dfl.165, $115, £74.50 Ali Khan's chosen topic is a fascinating one: the demise of the nation-state as the prime organizational unit of society and as the central subject of international law. He approaches it directly from the perspective of classical international law, from a traditional Grotian stance. The structure is much as one would expect: Part I deals with the `Advent of the Nation-State', covering the demise of the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, competing conceptions of sovereignty, and the basic attributes of statehood; Part II tackles the `Weakening of the Nation-State', both in terms of the contradictions inherent within states and in terms of the impact of changes in the international system, with particular reference to the example of the EU; and Part III is left to posit a possible future in `The Emergence of Free State', which is Ali Khan's original contribution. The book tackles a subject that has been insufficiently considered elsewhere. It proposes one possible future for the societal organization of the world and for the discipline of international law. In so doing, it fails to be persuasive, both in its conclusion and in its method. What the work lacks throughout is an appropriate level of intellectual rigour and serious grounding in legal or political theory. Thus, the presentation of the central thesis - the concept of `Free State' - is only thinly predicated upon the developments of `Peaceful Conditions' (minimal war), `Equitable Development' (general economic parity), and `Pluralist Association' (gender/racial/religious tolerance), which are proposed as potential ultimate consequences of human rights law, global economics, and international enmeshment. The treatment of these subjects, and the possible developments flowing from them, fail to achieve the depth of analysis necessary to support the claims made. Unfortunately, this superficiality is continued into the account given of the concept of `Free State' itself. It is based on little more than a cursory description of the EU and of one potential future for it, seemingly derived from instinct and speculation rather than from insight, reasoning and critical assessment. As a result, I am left wholly unconvinced. Beyond its main aim of positing a serious theory of its own, the book also fails to be of use as a text on the concept of statehood specifically, or on the theory of international law generally. Its treatment of the development of the nation-state, and of the contemporary challenges to it, suffer from a lack of rigour similar to that observed in the final section. In addition, there is no bibliography and an almost complete absence of any useful references, which further inhibits the book's usefulness as a source for study or further research. Notwithstanding these criticisms, the book is not without its merits - some of the ideas proposed are interesting, stimulating and, at least prima facie, plausible. Ali Khan is to be praised for taking on a subject which has not been dealt with in sufficient depth elsewhere. However, the book's ultimate contribution must simply be in highlighting the need for others to take on this project, but in so doing, to avoid the mistakes highlighted herein. And I hope that one of the people to take on this task will be Ali Khan himself. Dave Carter Faculty of Law University of Southampton
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