Identitys Role in Internal Politics of Eastern Europe Countries in the Context of Globalisation - Essay Example

?Identity’s Role in Internal Politics of Eastern Europe Countries in the Context of Globalisation Introduction The term globalisation has become a grammatical construction of common usage especially in this age when nations are attempting to open borders and integrate both political and economic aspects to establish one community. Globalisation is perceived differently by different individuals with some believing that it presents new opportunities while others see inequality, and hindrance of national sovereignty. In Eastern Europe, new countries have emerged from the collapse of communism governments that is the Soviet Union and the Yogoslavia, therefore developing new political identities (Genov, 2010). Countries like Poland have emerged from decolonisation hence acquiring different political systems from those of their colonisers. Most of the Eastern Europe countries have originated from authoritarian regimes, which had their identities repressed. Therefore, Eastern Europe countries engage in politics and economic systems that are distant from their colonisers, even going to the extent of changing their entire political systems. Lawmakers ensure that laws match the citizens’ sense of national identity hence satisfying their people’s roles, goals, and values (Schneider, 2010: 931). This paper will examine the role of identity in internal politics of Eastern Europe countries in the context of globalisation. Eastern Europe is a place that is diverse historically, culturally and geographically. The people living in Eastern Europe are of different ethnicities where they even speak different Indo-European languages. Eastern Europe is made up of four sub regions. There is the Baltics comprising of countries such as, Estonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The second sub region is East Central Europe comprising of countries like; Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The third sub region is Eastern Europe with countries such as, Moldova, Belarus and Russia. The fourth sub region is the Balkans or Southern East Europe with countries like Macedonia Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Herzegovina, Ukraine, Romania, and Bosnia. Those countries that are adjacent to Western Europe and centrally placed have adopted similar identities and most have joined the European Union, therefore, embracing globalisation (Cernat and Murrell, 2002:119). Other Eastern Europe countries that are far placed do not have shared identities with Europe and with the different ethnicity, religions, and political issues, many are considered volatile. Globalisation is defined as a process requiring the reduction of territorial boundaries so as to allow interactive and interdependent worldwide forms of to spread. Globalisation brings about the dissemination and spread of culture, politics, and economy from particular locations to worldwide magnitude. In addition to free movement of cultural values, money, people, and ideas, globalisation calls for mutually beneficial relations (Martel, 2009:461). Its dominant processes of regionalisation (Cernat and Murrell, 2002:119). Identity, whether cultural or national, can influence politics in that lawmakers will attempt to develop policies that will represent the values of its citizens. Policymakers will strive to create foreign policy laws that will ensure the country’s sovereignty remains strong even among regional economic allies. A country’s national identity is not set at a certain level; therefore, adjustments can be made, allowing the citizens to adopt new interests and values. National identity is simply an illusion that people from one country or region can have about who they are. As globalisation sets in, some national identities evolve and a global perspective is adopted. Politicians sometimes act to serve their best interests of retaining power, when they draft laws that do not allow easy integration or cohesion between a nation and other foreign countries. They usually view integration as a threat, looking to reduce their power. However, globalisation is irresistible. Some experts say it is irreversible. The world has become a global village, therefore, one country or even one region can hardly alienate itself without requiring trade relations with others (Toshkov, 2008:381). Identity Requires Nations to Reshape Their Laws Nations that resist globalisation will eventually need to reshape their laws and submit to the inescapable forces of globalisation. This is evident as some countries from Eastern Europe, Malta, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, and Czech Republic, had to conform to the rules of the European Union before accession to become Union members. The countries had to be democracies and have laissez-faire economies. By joining the European Union, these countries have adopted new laws and identities, hence concurring internally and externally to the necessary economic and political shift. Adjusting from communism to independence and then joining the European Union has already led to redefinition of foreign policy and identity interests (Gaber, 2006:37). Physical Geographical Location’s Influence on Identity Geographical locations of different Eastern Europe countries influence identity. Those countries that are considered to be centrally placed and border Western Europe countries have experienced drastic changes in their political structures and economic systems since independence. This is not the case with the countries at a distance from Western Europe. The changes can be associated with their location on the European map. These are the only countries that have shown an aspect of globalisation, because they joined the European Union. Globalisation seems to be spreading from those countries that are close to Western Europe to those that are located inwards towards the direction of Russia (Watson, 2010:595). The close proximity between Western Europe and Eastern Europe countries such as Lithuania, Estonia and Poland, seems to have brought globalisation to these countries. Just like the case of East and West Germany, citizens of East Germany observed the prosperity attained by West Germany, hence demanding for integration (Toshkov, 2008:381). The Eastern Europe countries have also associated with Western Europe and formed shared identities, which have led to adoption of new policies and laws, thus a change in politics. Politics of democracy and capitalism, which are being observed in countries that had previously adopted communism, can only be attributed to the citizen’s adoption of new identities that have eventually changed politics. Therefore, Eastern Europe countries that have joined the European Union have had their lawmakers altering their political system and drafting globalisation-friendly in order to conform to the new identities (Watson, 2010:595). Perceptions of Identity are Crucial to International Relations Foreign policy theoreticians and practitioners have come to a conclusion that the citizens’ perceptions of identity are crucial when concerning international relations. A nation’s citizens have a psychological system of making assumptions and defining standards thus conceptualising transitional processes in their countries. In democratic countries where policymakers follow the needs of their citizens, laws can only be formulated in line with the perceptions of the people. In the society, globalisation takes on three levels; the national level where political attributes are examined, the economic level and individual level where examination of both cultural and social aspects is involved. When countries are transitioning into internationalism or globalisation, individuals take on new ideas where their socio-cultural ways tend to change and the role of the government diminishes. Therefore, the citizens of Eastern Europe countries have to conceptualise and accept forms of globalisation before lawmakers introduce foreign policy laws that will see the country enter into international relations with other countries (Genov, 2010). This means that the government should be able to accept American values and aspirations of governance, business transactions, and to some extent socio-cultural ways. Why say this? America plays a crucial role in globalisation to the extent where some scholars actually linking globalisation to it. Currently, the international economy has been created with most of the policies being adapted from the United States of America. Some view globalisation as a tool created and controlled by the United States thus receiving overwhelming criticism especially from countries in Eastern Europe that were linked to the Soviet Union. Lawmakers are not open to the idea of just getting liberated from communism and then jumping into a state that will decrease their governance. Eastern Europe countries do not want to share identity especially in governance as they would like to have full control of their countries. However, the economic system seems appealing especially to the poor countries in Eastern Europe. Therefore, the people have positive perceptions of identity especially with the economical aspect of globalisation but due to the transitional-democracy political systems, laws have not been established to fully integrate internationalism (Martel, 2009:457). Globalisation and Cultural Identity Globalisation may seek to promote homogeneity but a contradictory effect that has emerged is the increase in social heterogeneity. Awareness has increased among groups that have different identities founded on language, religion, ethnicity and race, therefore, demanding for more representation in international affairs and policies. Minorities have effectively strengthened their ground in an effort to voice and display the importance of their identity, a situation that could end up in conflict if left unresolved. The minorities’ identities need to be integrated with globalisation but due to the vastness of this group; the process may be unmanageable thus provoking new conflicts between subgroups and the nations. This is because the minorities will view the nations’ role as no longer protecting their domestic interests but promoting international forces, which may led to loss of shared identities. In order to curb this problem, cultural diversity has increased in the field of world politics, with the United Nation promoting equal representation of different cultural groups (Gaber, 2006:37). Eastern Europe countries have very diverse cultural practices among the member countries. These countries do not share the same language, religion, ethnicity, or race. They have a resentment towards each other brought about by years of wars amongst themselves thus representing one group would have disastrous results as the others would fail to make the connection in identity. Conclusion Demand for democracy increased in Eastern Europe when the Soviet Union and other communist nations collapsed. Globalisation was then introduced in Eastern Europe since free movement of people and goods was made possible through the fall of communism. Political, cultural and economic globalisation have slowly spread through Eastern Europe as more countries embrace globalisation due to the economic benefits associated with the capitalist economic system. As years advance, more Eastern Europe countries will be open to globalisation as their politics move to a liberal and democratic system. References Cernat, L. & Murrell, P. (2002) ‘Globalisation and Development: New Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe,’ Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 119-136. Gaber, R. (2006) ‘National Identity and Democratic Consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe,’ International Journal of Sociology, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 35-69. Genov, N. (2010). Global trends in Eastern Europe. Farnham, Surrey England: Ashgate. Martell, L. (2009) ‘Britain and Globalization’ University of Sussex, Globalisations, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 449-466. Schneider, C. (2010) ‘The Quality of Democracy in Eastern Europe: Public Preferences and Policy Reforms,’ Perspectives on Politics, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 930-932. Toshkov, D. (2008) ‘Embracing European Law: Compliance with EU Directives in Central and Eastern Europe,’ European Union Politics, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 379-402. Watson, P. (2010) ‘Review: Post-Communist Welfare Pathways: Theorizing Social Policy Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe,’ Critical Social Policy, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 594-596. Read More