Instead of creating new 'network states' that can’t supply public goods or credibly defend sovereignty, form a treaty‑based league of willing jurisdictions that harmonize visas, taxation, arbitration, and property rules for global online communities. Think of a modern Hanseatic League that offers portable legal status and standardized services across its members.
— This reframes sovereignty and state capacity as a standards alliance among existing states, offering a feasible path to govern de‑localized communities without secession fantasies.
Carl Gershman
2026.04.02
78% relevant
The article argues for coalitions of democracies, NGOs, and middle powers (Forum 2000, ICDR, Community of Democracies, Canada/Mark Carney) to fill the gap left by U.S. withdrawal — directly matching the existing idea that networks of states (and coalitions) are becoming the primary vehicle for international action rather than traditional state‑centric institutions.
Josh Appel
2026.04.02
72% relevant
The article describes the DSA building a coordinated, chapter‑based network that recruits and elects local officials across jurisdictions (225 chapters, ~250 local offices). That is a practical example of power moving from isolated offices to a cross‑jurisdictional network of local actors exercising collective influence.
Nathan Gardels
2026.03.27
80% relevant
The article advances the same core claim as 'Network of States, Not States': that middling countries are organizing collectively to write rules and protect their interests instead of relying on unipolar or bipolar hegemonic guarantees. It cites specific proponents (Mark Carney, Finnish President Alex Stubb) and concrete targets (Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia, India, Brazil) arguing they can form conventions to counteract great‑power dictates on security, trade and technology.
Tyler Cowen
2026.03.27
82% relevant
Gillingham’s central claim—that Mexico’s mountains and a tradition of decentralized, 'hands‑off' rule produced a federated, loosely integrated polity that nevertheless held together—maps directly to the 'network' frame (a country held together by semi‑autonomous regions and local governance rather than a unitary apparatus). The actor is Paul Gillingham and his new book; the evidence is his explanation of post‑independence durability and federalism.
Isegoria
2026.03.19
80% relevant
The article documents how sovereignty is distributed across personages and institutions (emperor, shogun, courts, temples) rather than concentrated in a single, unitary office—directly echoing the 'networked' view of political authority where multiple centers and rituals sustain governance. The Tokugawa example and Kaempfer's observation that Japan had an 'ecclesiastical' and a 'secular' emperor concretely illustrate the claim that states function as networks of authority.
Eric Cline
2026.03.13
80% relevant
Eric Cline describes a Bronze Age world held together by interlinked trade networks (tin, copper, grain, manufactured goods) and shared institutions rather than consolidated empires — a direct historical example of political and economic organization as a network rather than discrete, self‑contained states.
Reem Nadeem
2026.03.12
80% relevant
The Pew appendix catalogues each state's abortion‑law status (sourced to The New York Times, current as of Mar. 9, 2026), illustrating the patchwork—a network—of differing legal regimes rather than a single national regime; that fragmentation is the core claim of the existing idea and the dataset provides concrete evidence for it.
Scott Alexander
2026.03.11
82% relevant
The article proposes using a coalition of state legislatures (27 states) to ratify a Congressional Apportionment Amendment and thereby change the structure of the House without congressional approval — a direct instantiation of the idea that states acting as a network can reshape federal institutions and policy outcomes.
Dustin Sharp
2026.01.16
62% relevant
Sharp’s defense of the nation‑state is a direct counterpoint to the 'network state' or secessionist alternatives; it connects to the existing proposal that effective governance should work through treaty‑based state networks rather than ephemeral online jurisdictions. The article undercuts the network‑state optimism and argues for national capacity instead.
James Farquharson
2026.01.08
85% relevant
Wu Xinbo’s discussion of pursuing a US–China 'grand bargain' and the broader article’s emphasis on trading influence and formal arrangements echoes the existing idea of forming treaty‑based, standards alianaces among jurisdictions rather than new secessionist network states; both propose governance by negotiated rules and shared services across sovereignties.
Max Skjönsberg
2026.01.05
62% relevant
Maitland’s pluralism (value of churches and intermediary institutions) maps onto the existing idea advocating treaty‑based leagues and standards alliances rather than creating wholly new sovereign entities; the article cites Maitland’s inspiration from Otto von Gierke and links to Smith’s limits on state remit, which supports the standards‑alliance reframing of sovereignty.
Johann Kurtz
2025.12.31
75% relevant
Kurtz proposes a private, membership‑based network of dynastic families to coordinate estates, patronage, events and investments — effectively a standards/alliance play among private jurisdictions and elites. That maps onto the existing idea’s core claim (using a network‑style alliance to supply governance‑like services), though here the actors are private families rather than states.
Noah Smith
2025.10.01
100% relevant
Noah Smith’s preview for the Network State Conference proposing a 'global Hanseatic League' to operationalize network‑state ideals via cooperating nation‑states.