Sale believes that people should be able to break apart large nation-states into small pieces (secession). Sale has been called "one of the intellectual godfathers of the secessionist movement." He argues that the major theme of contemporary history, from the dissolution of the Soviet Union to the expansion of United Nations membership from 51 in 1945 to nations today, is the breakup of great empires. People on both left and right call for smaller, less powerful government.