The period from the 1970s to the 1990s saw much discussion about the declining power of national states in the face of internationalization and, later, globalization. This topic has been explored within the Conference of Socialist Economists since its founding meeting in October 1970, as well as in many issues of its Bulletin and, later, in Capital & Class. The global economic crisis has reinvigorated this debate, and invites a return to some of the first principles of historical materialism. Starting with Marx and Engels’ discussion of the world market and national states, I explore the impact of neoliberalism on both aspects of this relation and then draw some general conclusions.
