With this post, I begin a review of the book by Martin Van Creveld: “The Rise and Decline of the State.”  Best to start with his opening statement in the Preface: The state, which since the middle of the seventeenth century has been the most important and most characteristics of all modern institutions, is in decline. Plenty of bloggers like me make such outlandish statements; so, who is Martin Van Creveld? Van Creveld was born in the Netherlands in the city of Rotterdam to a Jewish family.  His parents, Leon and Margaret, were staunch Zionists who had managed to evade the Nazis during … Continue reading The Rise of the State