" It was a low point in history – but it was the end of nationalism. Earth was too small for nations and they began grouping themselves into Regions. It took quite a while. When I was born the United States of America was still a nation and not merely a part of the Northern Region. In fact, the name of the corporation is still “United States Robots—”. And the change from nations to Regions, which has stabilized our economy and brought about what amounts to a Golden Age, "

― Isaac Asimov , I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)