The 21st century has been characterized by great turbulence, climate change, a global pandemic, and democratic decay.
Drawing on post-structural political theory, this book explores two dominant concepts used to make sense of our disturbed reality: the state and the network. The book explains how they are inextricably interwoven, while showing why they complicate the way we interpret our present.
In seeking a better understanding of today's world, this book argues that we need to pull apart the familiar lines of our maps. By looking beneath and across these lines, an 'unmapping' presents new insights and opportunities for a better future.

Nicholas Michelsen is Reader in International Relations and Director of Education in the Department of War Studies at King's College London.

Chapter 1: Taking the Lines off the Map
Chapter 2: A Great Unmapping
Chapter 3: Capitalism and Imperialism
Chapter 4: Thinking Like a State
Chapter 5: Bureaucracy and Power
Chapter 6: The Battle Swarm
Chapter 7: Information and the State
Chapter 8: Romance of Networks
Chapter 9: Borders and Impermanence
Conclusion