You're right of course that the organization of the state has changed greatly over the course of the last 1000 years. But in the last 50 years we've seen treme

You're right of course that the organization of the state has changed greatly over the course of the last 1000 years. But in the last 50 years we've seen tremendous improvement in various technological capabilities and very little adoption of these by the states. When there's a technological revolution every 20 years or so, but a political revolution only every 200 years or so, I think it's fair to argue that the state is very resistant to change. I might see several technological revolutions in my lifetime, and no political ones.