The Future of Nationalism in the Globalizing World - Essay Example

The Future of Nationalism in the Globalizing World By The Future of Nationalism in the Globalizing World Globalization is the geographical reconfiguration and the transformation of the social geography leading to the growth of the supraterritorial spaces (Scholte, 2007). According to Scholte (2007), state organization, and political change is part of the globalization process. Globalization involves trans-border relations and avails the way to the appreciation of other nations and breaking down of the trade barriers among countries. The growth in the international economy and the growth in the communications sector are undermining the purpose of many nations. Nationalism is feeling of attachment of people of the same nation and the feeling of pride to their nation that helps in the promotion of culture and social values (Sutherland, 2012). Competition and inequalities among different nations lead to nationalism conflicts. The future of nationalism in the globalized world will involve a lot of the world transformation and a decrease in nationalism. The formation of nation-states has made nationalism a major contributor to the global governance, thus taking the description of an ideology, a culture, a sentiment, or a social movement pertaining nations. The social solidarity and the modern society originate from nationalism as some politicians use it to promote patriotism and unity in their countries. However, nationalism can be used for justification of unacceptable norms by various nations for their gains. First, many nations have borders that separate them from one another and drawn in such a way that creates ethnicity due to the existence of the minority groups (Sutherland, 2012). The minority groups are prone and venerable to political manipulations and abuse. For instance, the tribe of the Kurds forms a minority group in countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. The creation of borders by the historical leaders left some countries landlocked especially those in Central Africa and Central Asia, which have to depend on their immediate neighbors for infrastructure for them to carry out the international trade (Conversi, 1995). Nationalism makes some groups of individuals to define themselves as belonging to a certain state and different from one another. There is a connection between nationalism and the world wars of the 21st Century. The wars started in Europe, where nationalism first started. The World War 2 also led to major changes in the formation of nation states in which several Western colonies in the developing world got their freedom and created their own states. Nationalism is connected to economic and political problems in many countries such that some people use nationalism to blame others for their failures (Sutherland, 2012). Nationalism is a motivator of the nations that feel inferior as they use it to as an effort to become superior. One major manifestation of nationalism is protectionism or the economic patriotism, which costs many economies a lot. When nations specialize in producing what they can at their best, nationalism through the spirit of protectionism destroys it by the tit-for-tat mechanism. A country like French would like to protect their motor vehicle production but China would retaliate by blocking their exports of wine and nuclear technology. Globalization on the other hand, entails the unity of the world’s nations in various activities such as trade and market integration. With globalization taking the center stage, nationalism might find it difficult to get through the minds of several economies. There are various issues that require collective and harmonious action such the climate change, terrorism, and some infectious diseases such as Ebola. In Hobsbawm (2011), Globalization tends to address the issues through making health policies and requiring nations to take measures to prevent their transmission. Nationalism will always put a block in the attainment of such goals as a global world if nations do not unite and come with a major solution. For the world to achieve the global objectives, each nation has to give up something so that the world can benefit. The other issues, which can be accelerated by nationalism, are future conflicts and wars with neighbors who are strict nationalists. Although nationalism provides a sense of belonging to human beings, it can be dangerous especially if individualism of nations take control. It is a good idea to be proud of one’s culture, but that does not mean hindrance to globalization. For instance, some nations fear that their culture will be polluted by the US culture, which hinders socialization and international integration (Hobsbawm, 2011). The spirit of nationalism will soon be outdated, as the world is becoming a globalized society where every nation is bound to the other by the global policies. Some individuals claim hat globalization undermines the sovereignty of the nation and its national identity but, on the contrary, globalization tends to reinforce and strengthen the two. Ethnic and cultural pluralism is a major cause of security threat as many governments deny the national minorities their rights fearing that the action will threaten the social cohesion and integrity of their states according to Scholte (2000). Economic nationalism protects national economies especially in the world markets, which has the effect of promoting trade barriers among several states. Nowadays identifying people with their nationality is almost impossible due to the integration of the world societies. Nationalism is associated with stereotyping and hatred for other races leading to more conflict. The conflicts hinder the effectiveness of globalization due to the struggle for identity but with civic education, nationalism will reduce tremendously. The world is changing and transforming to mixed cultures rather than the national cultures across the globe. The changes are to promote a homogenized global culture rather than nationalism and national interdependent. Nationalism promotes the national culture and poses a challenge to the integration of the global culture where individuals can fit in any society (Ariely, 2012). Nationalism views globalization as a threat to its national identity and recognition. Nationalism poses a threat to the migration of people to other countries for various reasons such as employment and humanitarian purposes. Globalization will encourage free movement of people in the globe and association, but nationalists fear that it might dilute their cultures and social norms. For instance, the migration of people from the 3rd world nations is a result of globalization, a factor that has made positive impacts on these nations (Ariely, 2012). Nationalists blame globalization for the racial and cultural tensions in many parts of Europe and America. Through global interactions, countries that were extreme nationalists are changing their attitudes and incorporation global ideas and cultures. Interactions and communication involving several nations create awareness of peoples identity and cultural differences, leading to more conflicts. Some national gangs and groups result from the interaction of people from the same nation as they exercise their culture and nationalities to others (Ariely, 2012). Nationalism creates racism and stereotyping by people living in the foreign countries when they form a society or association of their nationals. The associations may be for protecting their rights or assistance during the times of trouble, but later turn out to racism. The associations can also result in violent gangs and terror groups, which becomes a threat to the security of the world and globalization. Globalization tries to address the issues as threats to the world and not just for a country, and soon it will overcome the nationalism spirit to maintain a peaceful planet. Globalization tends to increase the awareness of the social heterogeneity due the freedom of speech facilitated by democracy as Scholte (2007) argues. On the other hand, nationalism tends to have pride in the nations culture and heritage as the minorities try to raise their voices to demand justice on various issues such as recognition as sovereign states. National mobilization results from insecurity and uncertainty as categories of groups that belong to a common nation become more enlightened. National cultures limit globalization by creating confrontations between various groups such as Muslims and Christians leading to holy wars (Brubaker, 2011). The creation of new nationalities such as the Southern Sudan is a result of nationalism as the people fought for resources and because of the marginalization of the minority group. The minority groups especially Muslims in the Christian dominated nations, has resulted in wars and terrorists attacks as they try to protect their identity. However, the world leaders are actively addressing the issues and encouraging communities and nations to identify with the global society and maintain peace with one another. There are powerful countries in the global world, which have a massive effect on the other countries in the globe. For instance, the Western countries use their power to dominate various issues such as military, cultural, and social factors in many countries such as Middle East (Hobsbawm, 2011). To counter such interferences by the Western powers, the other countries use nationalism to protect themselves, a factor that threatens globalization. The less powerful countries feel that their political, economic, and social powers are threatened. Nationalism serves as a cultural doctrine seeking to preserve and promote their culture and the identity of their nation. Nations do this through the formation of National movements, which brings societies back to their values and traditions. Globalization tends to integrate the worlds traditions and values through interactions and trade. Globalization also tries to pull all groups residing on the planet from their isolation and incorporate them in the global structure. The aim is integrating all communities as one big global society with a common culture and social values. Nationalism tries to oppose the whole idea by promoting the national culture and heritage rather than identifying with the global norms. With the effort that globalist are putting in achieving the globalization for the world’s nations, nationalism might never have a space especially in the developed nations. Nationalism is the major cause of nation’s disasters such as genocide; in which many believe that people should be loyal to their nation otherwise; they face death (Hobsbawm, 2011). Nationalism unites people of the same culture and history and motivates them to carry out a dangerous action against another group. Nationality also leads to the creation of new empires and independent movements a factor that leads to the creation of new countries. Globalization tries to destroy such groups and movements to come up with a civilized society with respect for humanity. An example is the genocide carried out in Europe during the World War II due to the extreme nationalism that Germans held (Hobsbawm, 2011). Globalization has achieved a lot in curbing such national threats through the formation of international courts such as the Hague. Countries fear in engaging in activities that pose threats to the lives of the citizens as the world is always watching. Globalization tries to address such issues as prevention of pollution by various industrial sectors such as factories and fumes from automobiles. The global concern is the effect of the pollutants in the atmosphere and tries to urge the world to adopt safer fuels and production methods that reduce pollution (Scholte, 2008). Through nationalism and sovereignty of various nations, achieving a pollution free planet is quite a challenge as some of the nations such as China continue o emit more and more harmful gas to the environment (Scholte, 2008). Such problems as pollution and environmental degradation will continue haunting the world as long as countries do not agree with the global mechanisms of environmental protection. Countries will always argue that industrialization is their means of economic sustainability and stopping production of industrial goods will affect their economy. Global laws on environmental pollution are the only ones that can assist the world in preventing more pollution but can be achieved if all nations talk in one voice through globalization. Conclusively, globalization involves trans-border relations and avails the means to the appreciation of other nations and breaking down of the trade barriers among countries. Competition and inequalities among different nations lead to nationalist conflicts. The formation of nation-states has made nationalism a major contributor to the global governance thus taking the description of an ideology, a culture, a sentiment, or a social movement pertaining nations. Nationalism is a motivator of the nations that feel inferior as they use it to as an effort to become superior. Globalization tends to address the issues through making health policies and requiring nations to take measures to prevent their transmission. Nationalism unites people of the same culture and history and motivates them to carry out a dangerous action against another group. The global concern is the effect of the pollutants in the atmosphere and tries to urge the world to adopt safer fuels and production methods that reduce pollution. Nationalism faces extinction in future due to globalization as many nations are bound by international laws and cultures through various interactions and cooperation. References Ariely, G. (2012) Globalisation and the decline of national identity? An exploration across sixty-three countries, in Nations and Nationalism, 18 (3), 461–482. Brubaker, R. (2011). Religion and nationalism: four approaches*. Nations and Nationalism, 18 (1), 2-20. Conversi, D. (1995). Reassessing current theories of nationalism: Nationalism as boundary maintenance and creation. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 1 (1),73-85. Hobsbawm, E. (2011). How to change the world. London: Little, Brown. Scholte, J. (2000). Globalization. New York: St. Martins Press. Scholte, J. (2007). Defining Globalisation. The World Economy, 0(0), p.070916231942004-???. Scholte, J. (2008). Defining Globalisation. World Economy, 31 (11), 1471-1502. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1288886 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2007.01019.x Sutherland, C. (2012) Nationalism in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges and Responses ,Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More