The word was said by Glenn Beck on his Fox News show on Monday. He was giving his thoughts about the consequences of protests in Egypt.
He said:
“I believe that I can make a case in the end that there are three powers that you will see really emerge. One, a Muslim caliphate that controls the Mideast and parts of Europe. Two, China, that will control Asia, the southern half of Africa, part of the Middle East, Australia, maybe New Zealand, and God only knows what else. And Russia, which will control all of the old former Soviet Union bloc, plus maybe the Netherlands. I’m not really sure. But their strong arm is coming. That leaves us and South America. What happens to us?”
Now for the meaning:
Wikipedia:
the term caliphate (from the Arabic or khilāfa, Turkish: Halife ) refers to the first system of government established in Islam, and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah (nation). In theory, it is a constitutional republic meaning that the head of state (the Caliph) and other officials are representatives of the people and must govern according to Islamic law, which limits the government’s power over citizens. It was initially led by Muhammad’s disciples as a continuation of the political system the prophet established, known as the ‘rashidun caliphates’. It represented the political unity, not the theological unity of Muslims as theology was a personal matter. It was the world’s first major welfare state. A “caliphate” is also a state which implements such a governmental system.
Glenn Beck's meaning:
The office or jurisdiction of a caliph. The last caliphate was held by Ottoman Turkish sultans until it was abolished by Kemal Atatürk in 1924.