Historically, international relations have been based on relationships between nation states but this is changing. Many of the current conflicts are between groups inside states. Moreover, the very idea of the nation state is itself under threat from both above and below. Local issues are seen by many people as more important than national politics because at least they have a chance of influencing outcomes. This may lead to the re-birth of city states as national politics is squeezed between powerful multi-national corporate and NGO interests on the one hand and locally politicised individuals on the other.