EXTINCTION OR REINVENTION OF THE NATION STATE AGAINST GLOBAL CHALLENGES

This article analises the crisis affecting the Nation-State, which is a product of the aggravation, profundization and acceleration of the processes of globalization. In the first place the article deals with the changes of its structure, its functions and its decisionmaking power, all submitted to new international and sub - national pressures. From this perspective, emphasis is being placed on its struggle for survival through diversification of its scenarios and cooperation with other national and international actors. As a consequence, the analysis leads us to realize that the Nation-State, instead of being the hierarchical and authoritarian traditional entity, has started to play a new role as a negotiator and mediator of the big problems and their actors involved. In this context the integrating function of the Nation-State is being evaluated, as well as its capacity to stay a key player in a globalized world at times of the fragmentation and pluralization of modern societies. Finally the article concludes that the Nation-State, in spite of its current crisis, continues to be the most important institution of global control.