A world of nation-states

Since the eighteenth century, the nation-state has been a major force in world events. In our globalized world, billions of people use the same social media. They listen to the same hit songs, wear the same style jeans, and play the same video games. Yet almost everybody is still a citizen of a nation-state, and national identity still motivates people. In fact, nationalism may be on the rise.

Sports is an interesting forum for considering nationalism and the role of the nation-state. The two biggest international sporting events are the Olympics and the Football (Soccer) World Cup. These events pit teams of the different nation-states against each other. They pursue medals while promoting national pride. Some scholars believe sporting competitions like these demonstrate the importance to people of belonging to a group.

However, sports also show the complexity of nation-states. For example, the United Nations recognizes 195 sovereign nation-states. The FIFA World Cup only allows those 195 to show their flags. However, 211 teams can participate in the qualifying games. Some of these flag-free teams represent communities that aren’t fully recognized as independent countries. They include Kosovo (claimed by Serbia) and Taiwan (claimed by China).

The Olympic Games has dealt with similar issues. Since 1992, the Olympic committee has permitted stateless people to compete. In 2016, Brazil hosted the games. The first ever Refugee Olympic Team took part, represented by the Olympic flag itself. Its ten athletes had fled war-torn countries such as Syria and Democratic Republic of Congo.

What does it really mean to have a nation-state? Why are some countries only partially recognized? What part does nationalism play? These questions begin our investigation into the world’s nations today.

Transnationalism

After the extreme violence of the First World War (1914–1918) and Second World War (1939–1945), nationalism was regarded by many as a destructive mentality. It had contributed to widespread fighting and death. Beginning in 1945, there was a growth in internationalism. It promoted the idea that the nation-states of the world must cooperate in order to solve the world’s most difficult problems. More recently, economic globalization has become a powerful factor in the way people interact. Products made in one country are sold in another, and the world’s economies have become increasingly interwoven. The development of international systems made nationalism seem less influential than it had been previously.

In recent years, some scholars of globalization have argued that we have entered an era of “transnationalism.” They contend that the globalized economy has contributed to new concepts of identity. Technology and media are allowing far-flung groups to share interests and culture. They may consider their personal identities as independent of their national identities.

Another important example of transnationalism is the phenomenon of diaspora. These groups of people, usually migrants, share a culture and identity but have spread around the globe. The largest diaspora today, by nation-state of origin, is from India. Almost 16 million Indians live abroad. That’s just counting recent migrants who still have Indian citizenship. Millions more have become citizens of their adopted country.

The resurgence of nationalism

Not everybody thinks nationalism is disappearing, or even a bad thing. Gustavo de las Casas is a foreign relations expert. He believes that nationalism can unite members of a nation-state and motivate them to work together towards a common good.

Rwanda is one country where leaders have tried to use nationalism to help bring the country together. In 1994, hundreds of thousands of people were murdered there in a nationwide genocide. The attacks mainly targeted the Tutsi people. Afterward, Rwanda’s new government promoted an idea called Ndi umunyarwanda, or “everyone is Rwandan.”

It was an effort to promote reconciliation between two communities—Hutu and Tutsi—in hopes of preventing future violence. As part of this program, the government banned people from speaking about their ethnic identity. It also has promoted a set of values the government wants all Rwandans to share. The program uses newspapers and radio to promote shared nationalism in schools and communities.

The Ndi umunyarwanda program has its critics, though. Some argue that its emphasis on nationalism and obedience to the government goes too far. It discourages open discussion of the violent and difficult past. Others believe that the program favors Tutsi people over Hutu people, despite claiming to be inclusive. Certainly, it demonstrates how difficult it is for people to balance their different identities.

Nationalism based on race rather than state

As the conflict between the Tutsi and Hutu people also demonstrates, though, ethnic nationalism is a form that nationalist movements can take. It is not based on belonging to the same nation-state. Rather, it relates to shared race or ethnicity.¹ In the United States, the most prominent example is white nationalism.

In August 2017, the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, became a battleground. White supremacists were confronted by activists defending racial equality. During the rally, known as “Unite the Right,” some participants marched with Confederate flags. A symbol from the Civil War (1861–1865), this flag has come to represent opposition to racial equality. The marchers also carried tiki torches.² They were a reference to the torches the Ku Klux Klan have used to terrorize African American communities.

Ironically, modern white nationalism is very transnational. These nationalists have used it to recruit supporters in various countries. Many of these groups share a resentment towards minorities, refugees, and immigrants.

Citizens of no nation

Nationalism often focuses on people who live in a country but are not permitted to be citizens. Usually, these people are denied citizenship because they do not belong to the dominant ethnic group. Today there are more than 12 million people across the globe that are considered “stateless.” In short, they are people without a country.

Anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen. This system is called birthright citizenship. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees this right, but some opponents have argued that it should be eliminated. Birthright citizenship is the law in only 39 other countries. In Europe, and the majority of countries around the world, citizenship is only granted to newborns who have at least one parent who holds citizenship.

When a person is denied a citizenship, their access to basic rights is often limited. They may be denied access to public education and medical care. They may not be allowed to hold a legal job, buy a house, or even get married. They also are denied freedom of movement. Without citizenship, they cannot get a passport, and without a passport they cannot leave the country or be guaranteed they can return.

In Europe, one of the groups that has been denied citizenship and basic rights are the Romani or Roma people.³ Many of them fled the Balkans in the 1990s. They were forced out during a nationalist war in the region. Some lost their documentation during the war. Others never were allowed citizenship to begin with. Due to racism and discrimination, Roma children are unable to gain citizenship in any European state.

Sometimes, groups within a country actually have only limited citizenship rights. One of the clearest examples involves the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine. Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have Israeli passports. However, they do not have the same rights as Israeli citizens and are forced to live under military occupation. In 2018, Israel passed a new law. It declared the country the “nation-state for the Jewish people.” The law noted that “The exercise of the right to national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish People.” This leaves the Palestinian people as outsiders in their own land. They are not allowed to have a state of their own. Another group that thinks of itself as a people but has no nation-state is the Kurds. Thirty-five million Kurdish people live as minority populations divided among Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria.

Further discussion

So what does the future hold? Are we in an increasingly transnational world where our identities as members of a nation-state are becoming less important? Or have citizenship and “root-for-my-team-only” nationalism become more important than ever? What kind of world would you like to live in? Our responses to such questions will shape the world to come.

1 As you already know, “race” is not grounded in scientific evidence of shared background. Rather, it is a category that people largely invented based on just a few biological factors, especially skin color.
2 In fact, even the use of tiki torches—which come from Polynesia society—represent how much even these white supremacists rely on global ideas and technologies!
3 “Roma” describes the same ethnic group who were sometimes referred to by the racist pejorative “gypsies.”