Logos Press Engine is thrilled to present Farewell to Westphalia: Crypto Sovereignty and Post-Nation-State Governance by Jarrad Hope & Peter Ludlow! You can now get the ebook, physical edition, and the free-and-open-source version here: logos.co/farewell-to-westphalia (more purchase options coming soon).
The book argues that the nation-state model we’ve lived under since 1648 is breaking down and explores whether blockchain and related technologies can provide the infrastructure for an alternative better suited to today’s digitally interconnected world.
If you’ve already read the book, what did you think? Do you think blockchain communities providing services traditionally monopolised by nation states is feasible? What are the biggest barriers to overcome to realise such a vision? Do you see any major flaws with Jarrad and Peter’s argument? And have you left a review on Amazon or Goodreads?
I personally think it’s one of the most important books on blockchain tech to date. Whereas many books in the niche focus on the tech (the “how”), Farewell to Westphalia tackles the “why”, clearly outlining where blockchain technology can bring greater transparency, efficiency, and accountability to all levels of human governance and cooperation.
Let’s have a discussion. We’d love to hear your thoughts on Farewell to Westphalia.
I think there are a lot of books that focus on “fixing the money” (i.e. The Little Bitcoin Book, The Bitcoin Standard, Radical Markets - just to name well known ones), or books on the technical aspects of specific protocols (big fan of Mastering Bitcoin, Mastering Ethereum - from Andreas Antonopoulos; Mastering Monero - from SerHack) and so on.
But very few that look at fixing the governance. And on the basis of on-chain consensus, zk proofs, smart contracts, building entirely parallel societies that cannot be “taken” or “claimed” by a certain group (if we think back at how territories were taken across history and annexed to an existing country, empire etc).
This is one of the topics I really enjoyed in Farewell to Westphalia.
Nice! I totally agree about it being a really fresh look at the technology through a much broader lens. And I didn’t know about Mastering Monero. I’ll add that to my list.
Do you have a favourite quotation or chapter from Farewell to Westphalia?
Mine is chapter 16 - love the reference to the French banquets that gathered sufficient steam to play a role in the toppling of a monarchy. And of course, my favourite quotation is from that chapter, too:
“Nothing is just a party. Nothing is just a vibe. Sometimes, they are doors to the unimagined future.”
And it’s also the chapter that’s now doing the rounds on Hackernoon, too
