Most theories of geopolitics have been drawn from the histories of agrarian and early industrial states. In recent years, however, it has been argued that modern technologies have completely changed the principles of warfare and hence the geopolitical relations of states. The internal combustion engine, the airplane, the rocket – all have greatly increased the range and speed of movement and attack; and electronics makes global communications virtually instantaneous. Does it follow, then, that we are living in an era of entirely new geopolitical rules, in which all older principles of geopolitical explanation are outdated?

One prominent line of thought answers this strongly in the affirmative. Andreski (1968) states emphatically that the revolution in transportation and communication has already doomed the nation-state as an anachronism. The geopolitics of a plurality of states, such as has characterized the world up until now, no longer applies. The most powerful states now can make military strikes in a minimal time anywhere on the globe. Under these circumstances a world empire is not only possible but (barring total destruction) inevitable. Not only has the new military technology made it likely that such an empire can be won, but the rapid pace of modern transportation and communication make it feasible to administer a state of this size. Other analysts, too, have assumed that a unified world empire is not only possible but likely in the future; this has been argued by Wallerstein and his collaborators as a culmination of long-term trends in the capitalist world economy (Research Working Group, 1979).