Editing World government (section)

==Definition==
[[Alexander Wendt]] defines a state as an "organization possessing a monopoly on the legitimate use of organized violence within a society."<ref name="Wendt 491–542">{{Cite journal|last=Wendt|first=Alexander|date=December 2003|title=Why a World State is Inevitable|journal=European Journal of International Relations|volume=9|issue=4|pages=491–542|doi=10.1177/135406610394001|s2cid=18670783|issn=1354-0661}}</ref> According to Wendt, a world state would need to fulfill the following requirements:

# [[Monopoly on violence|Monopoly on organized violence]] – states have exclusive use of legitimate force within their own territory.
# [[Legitimacy (political)|Legitimacy]] – perceived as right by their populations, and possibly the global community.
# [[Sovereignty]] – possessing common power and legitimacy.
# [[Corporate action]] –&nbsp; a collection of individuals who act together in a systematic way.<ref name="Wendt 491–542"/>

Wendt argues that a world government would not require a centrally controlled army or a central decision-making body, as long as the four conditions are fulfilled.<ref name="Wendt 491–542" /> In order to develop a world state, three changes must occur in the world system:

# Universal security community – a peaceful system of binding [[conflict resolution|dispute resolution]] without threat of interstate violence.
# Universal [[collective security]] – unified response to crimes and threats.
# [[Supranational union|Supranational authority]] – binding decisions are made that apply to each and every state.

The development of a world government is conceptualized by Wendt as a process through five stages:

# System of states;
# Society of states;
# World society;
# Collective security;
# World state.<ref name="Wendt 491–542"/>

Wendt argues that a struggle among sovereign individuals results in the formation of a collective identity and eventually a state. The same forces are present within the international system and could possibly, and potentially inevitably lead to the development of a world state through this five-stage process. When the world state would emerge, the traditional expression of states would become localized expressions of the world state. This process occurs within the default state of anarchy present in the world system.

[[Immanuel Kant]] conceptualized the state as sovereign individuals formed out of conflict.<ref name="Wendt 491–542"/> Part of the traditional philosophical objections to a world state (Kant, Hegel)<ref name="Wendt 491–542" /> are overcome by modern technological innovations. Wendt argues that new methods of communication and coordination can overcome these challenges.

A colleague of Wendt in the field of International Relations, Max Ostrovsky, conceptualized the development of a world government as a process in one stage: The world will be divided on two rival blocs, one based on North America and another on Eurasia, which clash in [[World War III]] and, "if civilization survives," the victorious power conquers the rest of the world, annexes and establishes world state.<ref>Ostrovsky, Max, (2007). ''The Hyperbola of the World Order'', (Lanham: University Press of America), pp 320–321, 362, https://books.google.com/books?id=9b0gn89Ep0gC&q=annexation</ref> Remarkably, Wendt also supposes the alternative of universal conquest leading to world state, provided the conquering power recognizes "its victims as full subjects." In such case, the mission is accomplished "without intermediate stages of development."<ref>Wendt, Alexander, (2003). "Why the World State is Inevitable: Teleology and the Logic of Anarchy," ''European Journal of International Relations''. 9 (4): p 41, https://www.comw.org/qdr/fulltext/03wendt.pdf.</ref>