Although the secular left has made some significant recent gains in the [[culture war]] (for example, the legalization of [[same-sex marriage|homosexual marriages]] in many Western nations), the historian Martin Van Crevel points out that sovereign states are losing power/influence due to technology democratizing access to information, welfare states increasingly failing, [[fourth-generation warfare]] being waged against countries and sovereign states increasingly losing their ability to maintain internal order.<ref>[http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/Articles/96spring/creveld.htm The Fate of the State] by MARTIN VAN CREVELD | Although the secular left has made some significant recent gains in the [[culture war]] (for example, the legalization of [[same-sex marriage|homosexual marriages]] in many Western nations), the historian Martin Van Crevel points out that sovereign states are losing power/influence due to technology democratizing access to information, welfare states increasingly failing, [[fourth-generation warfare]] being waged against countries and sovereign states increasingly losing their ability to maintain internal order.<ref>[http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/Articles/96spring/creveld.htm The Fate of the State] by MARTIN VAN CREVELD |