In Nation-States, Richard Lee Hough interprets the role of the nation-state, analyzing the factors that impinge on its viability and correcting the present tilt in numerous commentaries positing, or prophesying, its decline. Hough seeks to balance, or refute those, who in various ways, see the degeneration of the modern nation-state.

"'The Nation-States: Concert or Chaos' is clearly written, and although elegant in style, it eschews jargon and can be read with interest and understanding by college undergraduates. It is appropriate for use as a text in university courses on the international system or state structures?Being informed by long experience and serious scholarship, Hough's book also will be interesting reading for any adult who is wondering where the world may be going as the twenty-first century progresses." - Perspectives on Political Science

"'The Nation-States: Concert or Chaos' is clearly written, and although elegant in style, it eschews jargon and can be read with interest and understanding by college undergraduates. It is appropriate for use as a text in university courses on the international system or state structures…Being informed by long experience and serious scholarship, Hough's book also will be interesting reading for any adult who is wondering where the world may be going as the twenty-first century progresses." - Perspectives on Political Science