The Parliament in Uruguay, a small South American nation with a secular state structure, passed a law in late 2007 to permit gay couples to have civil unions, which grant similar rights as marriage.
More than half a century later, these clubs in Italy, as well as the armed forces in other nations, provide structure and financial support that is often critical in allowing an athlete to pursue a career, particularly in minor sports that lack year-round exposure and major sponsorships.
Zweig wrote for elite audiences, and he knew that such a union would have to battle the headwinds of the existing nation-state structure - what he described as "many centuries of nationalism's tried and tested formula".
Unlike the United States, most European nations never structured their armed forces to rush to distant battle zones.
The next step for large newspaper groups struggling to maintain profitability is an extensive rationalisation of the entire nation-wide structure of the industry.
The previous three rounds of talks in Beijing ended without a breakthrough, and the legitimacy of the six-nation negotiating structure could collapse if this round ends in a stalemate.
What began as an act of diplomatic solidarity and temporary relief in the aftermath of the Second World War, by the 1990s had acquired such salience that most industrialised nations had structured aid policies, established aid agencies and joined the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DEconomic Co-operation
But, Taub pointed out, Wilson also laid the groundwork for the creation of the United Nations and contributed significantly to modern diplomacy and the international nation-state structure.
Burke dreams of a Vatican with a United Nations-like structure, whose website lists "a spokesperson on every continent with cellphone numbers in case you need an interview and free video footage," although, as it stands, the Holy See Press Office often closes at 3 PM.
Dushanbe, Tajikistan- The deadly June crisis in southern Kyrgyzstan highlights the extreme fragility in Central Asia's inherently flawed post-independence nation-state structures.
