A Shakeup Is Coming for the Nation-State: A Conversation with Stephen Sims

About this episode

Stephen Sims discusses how emerging technologies are reshaping the authority and structure of the modern nation-state.

Stephen Sims’ New Atlantis essay examines how emerging technologies are reshaping the structure and authority of the modern nation-state. He argues that innovations such as artificial intelligence, drones, and networked warfare are weakening the traditional link between territorial control and the projection of power, enabling smaller actors to operate with unprecedented reach. At the same time, advanced states are enhancing their internal capabilities through data-driven governance and automation, increasing their ability to monitor and manage populations. This dynamic creates a paradox in which states grow more powerful domestically while becoming more vulnerable externally. Sims contends that sovereignty is fragmenting, with authority dispersing both to non-state actors and to transnational technological systems. The result is not the end of the nation-state, but its evolution into a more contested, uneven, and technologically mediated form. Stephen Sims is associate professor of political science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Greg is the Executive Director and Founder of the World War II Discussion Forum (wwiidf.org). He also has a strong interest in literature…

People in this episode

Host: Greg

Guest: Stephen Sims

Topics covered

• nation-state
• emerging technologies
• sovereignty
• artificial intelligence
• networked warfare
• data-driven governance

Keywords

• nation-state
• emerging technologies
• sovereignty
• artificial intelligence
• drones
• networked warfare
• data-driven governance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rochester Institute of Technology, World War II Discussion Forum

Books & works: New Atlantis

More episodes of New Books in National Security

• Richard Bennet and Alexander Noyes, "War at Arm's Length: How America Can Build Effective Partners Through Military Assistance" (Yale UP, 2026) · June 12, 2026 · 40 min
• Witold J. Henisz, "Geostrategy by Design: How to Manage Geopolitical Risk in The New Era of Globalization" (Disruption Books, 2024) · June 5, 2026 · 1h 10m
• Damien Van Puyvelde, "The DGSE: A Concise History of France's Foreign Intelligence Service" (Georgetown UP, 2026) · May 27, 2026 · 54 min
• Jeffrey Whyte, "The Birth of Psychological War: Propaganda, Espionage, and Military Violence from WWII to the Vietnam War" (Oxford UP, 2023) · May 25, 2026 · 4 min
• Charles L. Glaser, "Retrench, Defend, Compete: Securing America's Future Against a Rising China" (Cornell UP, 2025) · May 13, 2026 · 59 min
• Chiara Libiseller, "Reconceptualizing War: The Rise and Fall of Fashionable Concepts in Strategic Studies" (Oxford UP, 2026) · May 12, 2026 · 52 min