Rapid globalisation and the proliferation of non-state actors has significantly changed the world landscape and this should be reflected in our understanding of the concept of nation-state and the modern global system.

The use of the term ‘international’ system still implies that inter-state relationships remain dominant, which may no longer be the case. Stephen Waltz’s concept of anarchy in the international system should be supplanted by a wider concept of the “new anarchy”, featuring multi-nodal or layered politics that takes into account non-state actors of different kinds.

Flavia Bellieni Zimmerman of the AIIA for the WA spoke with Professor Phil Cerny on 17 July. They discussed the concept of new anarchy, challenges to the notion of the nation-state and the resulting fragmentation as non-state actors gain pre-eminence.

Professor Phil Cerny is Professor Emeritus of Politics and Global Affairs at the University of Manchester and Rutgers University-Newark. Phil’s research focuses on the role of the state in managing globalisation and the politics of international trade, finance and social policy, with particular attention to the role of neo-liberal ideology, American hegemony and French foreign policy in a European context.

Interview by Flavia Bellieni Zimmermann.

Video and Photography by Nancye Miles-Tweedie.