[masterphilo]

There's common interests between the nations and modern technologies have helped facilitate the exchange of both goods and ideas, but I doubt if we can call ourselves a "global civilization" just yet. That would mean some sort of world government, which we definitely don't have. And to me, that just means that the rules of the game haven't changed at all.

[netcan]

Civilization and government aren't the same thing, and the rules.

The Phoenician civilization didn't have a single government, yet we consider them a single civilization. The definition isn't a hard one with a clear "is" or "is not," but I think we're clearly there.

Also, even the politics is highly intertwined. Political turmoil or change in one place causes an effect in other places.