World State; World Constitution; Peace for Our Time

The idea of a world state or world government has a long history, and aspirations towards this have taken various forms. In these three books, Renaissance man Nicholas Hagger follows in the footsteps of Truman, Einstein, Churchill, Eisenhower, Gandhi, Russell, Kennedy and Gorbachev in calling for 'a democratic, partly federal World State with sufficient authority to abolish war, enforce disarmament, combat famine, disease and poverty, and solve the world's financial and environmental problems.' Importantly, he brings his universalist approach deriving from his own mystical experience of the One Light to bear on politics as a metaphysical underpinning.

In World State he begins by arguing the case for such a body which, crucially, he proposes will have 'a partly federal, partly supranational structure that will allow nation states to be internally independent' while running the world for the benefit of humankind and bringing peace and prosperity to all. This message is all the more important given the recent resurgence of populism and nationalism as a reaction against global elites. He outlines the historical development from tribal states to city states, feudal baronial states, nation states, colonial empires, then confederations and federations moving in the direction of a world state. I agree that the dangers of world government depend on who is doing the governing, and that such a government must be democratic with built-in safety measures to prevent abuse of power. The next chapter gives a fascinating account of historical precedents, including Dante, Sir Thomas More, Erasmus, Bacon and Kant, along with many lesser-known figures including my great-grandfather James Lorimer who published The Institutes of the Law of Nations in 1883. Kant is discussed in some detail, showing how his work, including Perpetual Peace (1795) 'endorse the ideal of human unity and saw a world republic of free and equal individuals as an ideal end of the progress of human history.' (p. 34) In the 20th century, this was followed up by various world federalist movements.

Nicholas moves on to attempts at imposing a world state on the known world by conquest or consent, and analyses the failure of the old order. He places the process within his stages of Universalist history evolving towards 'a worldwide civilisation that espouses liberal democracy and prioritises a supranational perspective, which he moves on to in the second part. He sets out the seven goals of a supranational authority already referred to above, then analyses seven extant models for supranational arrangement. He shows how each in turn is inadequate, mainly because they remain inter-national or inter-governmental rather than supranational, with a continuing focus on the interests of nation states or elite groups. In the process, he quotes the UN's purposes and explains its existing functions – also elaborated in an extensive set of appendices. He is well aware of the influence of dynastic families such as the Rothschilds and Rockefellers as well as the secretive processes and agendas of the Bilderberg Group proposing a hegemonic New World Order. His own model takes this into account by proposing a World Openness Committee (p. 181) that would require minutes from the meetings of such groups and representation at its meetings. Readers will be impressed by the amount of forward-looking thinking that has already taken place.

Nicholas now proposes his own ideal form for the world state, a United Federation of the World that would include an 850-strong elected World Parliamentary Assembly, a World Senate of 92 senators, a Council of Ministers with 27 members chaired by a World President or World-Lord - I found these last terms questionable in their implications, especially the second and the assumption that such a person would be a man. And it is interesting to reflect that the current UN has a Secretary-General - suggesting a form of servant leadership rather than dominating power. Nicholas explains the structure and proposed representation of these bodies in considerable detail, with an extensive flow diagram. This certainly provides a sound basis and point of departure for future discussions. In addition, there would be a World Armed Force for policing purposes. In practical terms, a US President would have to take the initiative of proposing such a scheme, and one of its major implications would be a colossal peace dividend through the abolition of war, a proportion of which could be used for funding purposes. This of course would entail a massive restructuring of the global economy, especially in the US where the arms industry is such an economic driver. Nicholas provides figures for costs such as the War on Terror absorbing over $2 trillion between 2001 and 2018.

Interestingly, Nicholas does not see his own world state model as an endpoint of history, predicting that it will eventually disintegrate since it is in the nature of institutions to have a limited duration. The current fundamental question is how long it will take for our collective social and political consciousness to evolve towards a consensus that such a partially federal world state is required. Many leading thinkers already agree that our current institutions are incapable of addressing systemic world problems, so it may only be a matter of time before they move to the next stage of the advocating other institutional arrangements that will necessarily parallel some of Nicholas's thinking and proposals for implementation. The appendices contain valuable data and evidence including previous confederations federations, the text of the US Declaration of Independence, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, extracts from the NATO treaty and also the Project for the New American Century from 1997 that has driven so much foreign policy since, and exploited the strategic opportunity offered by 9/11. There is an overview of the UN structure and extensive data on wars and conflicts that the UN has failed to prevent, even with 689 resolutions since 1945. Finally, there are data on freedom, regions and nation states, all of which is a tremendous resource in one book.

The book on a world constitution is a short one with a background on constitutions before proposing a detailed draft consisting of 145 articles. Its principles include acknowledging the drive towards self-improvement, self transcendence, self transformation and higher consciousness 'through which all can attain personal inner calm, serenity and a sense of life has meaning and purpose' (p. 5). The content adds to and formalises the proposals of the first book, including structure and electoral processes. There are 35 rights and freedoms, with additional sections on equal rights and justice, rights of world citizens, and protection of rights and freedoms; there are even proposals for an emblem, flag and anthem as well as sections on signature and ratification. Appendices include 26 constitutional precedents and 204 constitutions as well as reiteration of representative allocation to the various bodies. It all makes visionary political reading.

The third book is a more personal reflection on war and peace and a Third World War, also arising out of his intelligence work described in his autobiography My Double Life reviewed in an earlier edition. He describes the proceedings in Athens of a group called the World Philosophical Forum and his chairing of its constitutional convention, the proposal for a Universal State of the Earth and a Supreme Council of Humanity, all of which comes across as a dry run for the plans proposed the other books. His award of the Gusi Peace Prize for Literature in 2016 (described in detail) gave him a new platform, and he offers pertinent reflections on Brexit, Trump and the appalling situation in Syria. Here he makes a connection between the relentless Russian bombing campaign and the consequent flow of refugees that has destabilised Europe, remarking that there is a danger of a proxy Third World War while also proposing a realistic and pragmatic 15-point peace plan (p. 203). The second Athens conference included a startling design proposal for a possible headquarters of a Universal State of the Earth as an immense globe, apparently designed by Russians - an intriguing fact. The appendices recap the relationship between Universalism and the world state as well as outlining the potential process for bringing it into being.

The vision outlined in these three books represents an important advance in political and constitutional thinking that must eventually manifest in our future institutions and global governance. It is a necessary historical and evolutionary process and one that deserves serious attention, particularly from a universalist metaphysical perspective that sees humankind as one and seeks the benefit of all. Nicholas has done a great humanitarian service in articulating his world constitution and outlining his proposal for a partly federal world state that can serve as basis for future development. We should all be playing an active part in helping bring this about.