Is the nation-state a historical accident, or a useful discovery, akin to a technology? The thinker most individually responsible for the Golden Renaissance, Nicolaus of Cusa, was also instrumental in creating the concept of the nation. Themes from three of Cusa's great works (On Learned Ignorance, On the Peace of Faith and Catholic Concordance) will be applied by Will Wertz to address the New Bretton Woods needed today.

This class will also address the fundamental divide between Plato and Aristotle and the emergence of the USA, in opposition to the British Empire and the Anglo-Dutch liberal system.