The challenge of a rapidly changing world political map

The work of geographers is concerned with three major, separate though far from independent, concepts: space, place and environment. Of the three, I concentrate here on space, and in particular on the spatial organisation of politics - on the changing world political map. First, I present a brief characterisation of the state as a category of geographical interest. I turn then to major changes that are taking place in economy and society, including their inter-relationships with nature, in order to illustrate the changing role of the state as a territorial unit. Understanding the state is central to understanding society, and understanding the changing world political map is a necessary component of that task. -from Author