Network School

Frequently asked questions

What is a network state?

A network state is a decentralized, voluntary community connected by shared values rather than territory, that grows online first and builds toward eventual recognition as a real state (thenetworkstate.com/the-network-state-in-one-sentence). Network School is a physical, residential instance of that idea — a startup society you can live in — not a recognized state itself.

What is the difference between a network state and a nation state?

A nation state is built on centralized control of defined territory; a network state is a voluntary association connected by shared values, where one person can belong to several at once (thenetworkstate.com/the-network-state-in-one-sentence). The honest gap: a nation state is recognized and enforces law; a network state, including Network School, is an experiment with no sovereignty and no recognition yet.

Where is Network School located?

In Forest City, Malaysia — a famously underpopulated, Chinese-built development near Singapore — where Network School occupies coliving and coworking space inside the existing towers (ns.com). It runs under Malaysian law, on land it does not own, which is the catch: it is a tenant of the development, not a territory of its own.

How do you join Network School?

You apply and, if accepted, pay to live and work at the Forest City, Malaysia campus for a term — it is a paid residential program, not citizenship (ns.com). Malaysian ministers have shown interest in fast-track visas, but that is interest, not a guarantee. You are a tenant in a program, with no membership in any state.

Is Network School actually a sovereign network state?

No. Honestly, it is a paid coliving and curriculum program run by Balaji Srinivasan inside Country Garden's Forest City development, under Malaysian law (ns.com). It is a startup-society experiment pointed at the network-state idea, not a sovereign entity — residents are tenants, not citizens, and Malaysia, not Network School, holds the actual authority.