Is a Marxist Theory of State Possible?

Nation-states have become, for better or for worse, the basic units into which humanity in a more and more interdependent world is divided. Notwithstanding what the predominant mode of production in the states of the present world may be, states all over the world are organised in a remarkably similar manner. They all have armies or at least police forces, custom officials, secret services, a diplomatic service, central taxation systems and civil bureaucracies divided into departments headed by cabinet ministers.