Nation State Lecture

M4 LECTURE A. Definition of nation – state According to Scholte (2000), a nation has four (4) general features : 1) a nation population; encompasses a large 2) a nation is a form of community by attachment to a specific territorial homeland; 3) a nation defines itself through an emphasis of cultural attributes that set it apart from other people; and 4) nations are mutually constitutive. To Benedict Anderson (1983), a nation is an imagined community. It is limited because it does not go beyond a given boundary and because rights and responsibilities are mainly the privilege and concerns of the citizens of the nation. To James Wilford Garner, a state is a community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, having a government of their own to which the great body of inhabitants render obedience and enjoying freedom from external control. from people within its jurisdiction and to have freedom from foreign control. It is not absolute in practice because of the development of international relations and consequently, of international law (De Leon, 2014). Nation and state are closely related. It is the state that rules over a nation (Claudio and Abinales, 2018). World politics today has four (4) key attributes. First, there are countries or nations - states that are independent and govern themselves. Second, these countries interact with each other through diplomacy (negotiations). Third, there are international organizations like the United Nations that facilitate these interactions. Fourth, international organizations take on lives on their own. The UN, for example, has task-specific agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (Claudio and Abinales, 2018). B. The Interstate System Based on this definition, the modern state has four (4) elements. The origin of sovereignty can be traced back to the Treaty of Westphalia and the Concert of Europe. First, it exercises authority over a specific population or citizens. 1. The Peace Treaty of Westphalia (Germany) Second, it governs a specific territory. This was a package of treaties that ended the 30 years European wars of religion (1618-1648). European states – the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, Sweden and the Dutch Republic – agreed to respect one another's territorial integrity. Third, state has a structure of government that sets rules that people follow. Fourth, and the most crucial is sovereignty. Sovereignty is the supreme power of the state to command and enforce to its will The three (3) core points of the Westphalian Treaty are the following: 1. LIBERAL INTERNATIONALISM a. the principle of state sovereignty; The well-known liberal internationalists are the following: b. the principle of legal equality of states; and 1.1 Immanuel Kant (German) imagined a form of “global government”. c. the principle of non-intervention of one state in the internal affairs of another. 1.2 Jeremy Bentham (British) advocated the creation of “international law” The earliest challenge to Westphalian system was Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French Empire. He sought to spread the principles of the French Revolution across Europe by launching the Napoleonic Wars between 1803 to 1815. The Napoleonic code forbade birth privileges, upheld freedom of religion and meritocracy in government service. that would govern the inter-state relations. 1.3 Giuseppe Mazzini (Italian)believed that a free, unified nation-states should be the basis of an equally free, cooperative international system. 1.4 Woodrow Wilson (USA) forwarded the “principle of self-determination”. He became the notable advocate of the LEAGUE OF NATIONS. 2. The Concert of Europe (1815-1914) The main aim was to restore the Westphalian system. Alliances of “great powers” of Austria, Prussia, Russian Empire, United Kingdom agreed to maintain “balance of power” (no one state is strong enough to dominate all others) and would support each other if any revolutions broke out. The League of Nations was founded after WW1 in 1919. There were 58 members. Its main objective was to maintain world peace through international arbitration. Its primary achievement is the birth of task-specific international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO). 2. SOCIALIST INTERNATIONALISM Sir Klemens von Metternich Austrian diplomat was the architect of the Concert of Europe. These two interstate systems divided the world into separate, sovereign nation-states. C. Internationalism Internationalism has been brought by the Peace Treaty of Westphalia and the Concert of Europe Various sovereign states and people desire for greater global cooperation and unity. Internationalism is divided into the following categories : The main proponent of Socialist Internationalism was Karl Marx. He did not believe in nationalism (rooted people on domestic concerns). He placed a premium concern on economic equality. He argued that the world is divided into classes. First, the capitalist class or the owners of the factories and other means of production. Second, the proletariat class or those who worked for the capitalists. To Marx, the proletariat had no nation. Its battle- cry is “WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE”. He opposed nationalism because it prevented the unification of the world's workers. The Socialist International (1889-1916) was an organization of labor and socialist parties, mainly in Europe. Among its achievements are the 8-hour working day, International Women’s Day, and International Labor Day on May 1. Its parties became major players in the electoral politics of Europe. In 1916, it collapsed when its member- parties supported the war efforts of their respective states. The Communist International (Comintern) was established in 1919 until 1943. It was a product of the Bolshevik victory in Russia (USSR) under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. It became a tool to promote revolution, a central body for all Communist Parties across the world. It dissolved in 1943 to appease Allied Powers. Communist internationalism has weakened since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The United Nations (UN) has propagated liberal internationalism since the end of World War II to this today. During the period of Cold War, the French demographer Alfred Sauvy coined the term Third World to describe the economically less-developed states that tended to share colonial past. They adopted foreign policies based on nonalignment. In 1955, the Bandung Conference was attended by 29 countries which agreed to combat colonialism and neocolonialism by either the US or the USSR. This formally gave birth to the non-aligned movement, a Mazinnian internationalism for decolonizing countries. Today, the communist countries have almost totally vanished, thus making the term Third World obsolete. Now the terms Global North (the wealthy countries previously known as the First World) and the Global South (the less-developed countries along the equator and in the Southern Hemisphere) are popular (Kegley and Raymond, 2012). D. The state as the primary actor in world politics According to Scholte (2000), the sovereign, territorial state has been the lead actor on the world stage for nearly four centuries. In some respects, it is still flourishing because many people look to the state as a source of security, welfare and identity. Yet numerous states are failing to fulfill these traditional purposes, leading scholars to ask whether the nation-state will remain capable of addressing once considered its sole prerogative. With national boundaries becoming increasingly porous and policy problems transcending political frontiers, the managerial capabilities of states have been severely strained, regardless of form of government. Auguste Comte, a 19th century Sociologist, argued that human beings create institutions to deal with serious problems. When they are no longer able to perform this vital function, they are replaced by other institutions. Today, as the Westphalian state seems unable to cope with the many transnational problems, is the nation -state becoming obsolete? To Dhonte and Kapur (1997), the Bretton Woods institutions have recognized the importance of the state for an effectively functioning global market. To Scholte (2000), the rise of supra-territoriality has encouraged changes in the character of the state without undermining the state itself. Whatever new world order might be emerging in the course of contemporary accelerated globalization, the state has remained a major part of it. M1 LECTURE Globalization Refers to the intensification and expansion of political relations across the globe Three Dimensions 1. Political It refers to the intensification and expansion of political relations across the globe. 2. Economic •Refers to the widespread international movements of goods, capital , services , technology and information . 3. Social Pertains to human interaction within cultural communities encompassing topics like family, religion, work and education . Causes of Globalization 1. Technological Advances 2. Policies that encourage international business relations 3. Business Outsourcing 4. Education 5. Mass Media compartmentalized power sector 8. Influx of information between countries 9. Cultural intermingling 10. Financial interest, corporations and government are trying to sort out ecological problems 11. People have become more open and tolerant towards each other. 12. Speedy travel , mass communications and quick dissemination of information through the internet . 13. Labour can move from one country to another to market their skills. 14.Sharing technology with developing nations will help them progress . 15. Transnational companies installing plants in other countries provide employment. 1. 2. Trade barriers are not really eliminated . 3. Jobs are lost in developed countries and transferred to lower cost-countries. 4. Workers in developed countries like the United States face pay-cut demand from employers who threaten to export jobs. Advantages of Globalization 1.Reduce trade barriers such as tariffs 2. Represents free trade 3. Competition among countries 4. Chance for poor countries to develop 5. Globalization and democracy will go hand in hand. 6. Worldwide market 7. World market is created instead of Disadvantages of Globalization Rich countries will become richer while the poor become poorer. 5. Large multi-national corporations put-up tax havens in other countries to avoid taxes . 6. Multi-national corporations are accused of : • Social injustice • Unfair working conditions • Lack of concern for the environment 7.Multi-nationals are increasingly influencing political decisions . 8. Technologies are at risks of being copied or stolen. 9. Globalization is not working for the majority of the world. 10. Globalization leads to incursion of communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS. 11. Leads to exploitation of labor. 12 . Social welfare schemes are under great pressure in developed countries like deficits and job losses.