What are three functions of Nationalism according to Breuilly?
- Seeks power: in order to built their own state; every nation deserves their own state.
- Supports or exercises power; nationalism is important to understand how countries are being governed
- Legitimizes state power; rule in the interest of the nation; national interest
What is Nationalism according to Heywood?
The belief that the nation is, or should be, the most basic principle of political organization
What is Nationalism according to Breuilly
A doctrine which seeks, exercises, and legitimizes state power, based on the assumption that the specific values and interests of the nation take precedence over most other political beliefs and concerns
What are different forms/manifestations of nationalism?
- ‘Banal’ nationalism (Billig): every days manifestation of the interest of the nation; radical, hot, liberal nationalism (it’s everywhere; flags, picture of Queen, etc.)
- Ethnic nationalism: idea of the nation, emphasizes and aimed at preserving the organic and ethnic nature of the nation (related to specific features; those who share a language or history)
- Civic nationalism: emphasizing political allegiance, based on a community of equal citizens, allowing respect for ethnic and cultural diversity that does not challenge core civic values (France)
What are three major discussions on nationalism?
- Primordial vs. modernist understandings of nationalism
- Civic versus ethnic interpretations of nationalism
- Nationalism and international order
What is the primordial vs. modernist discussion based on?
- ‘Natural’: the primordial’ definition – nationalism as a deeply rooted and embedded ever-present feature of human life
- ‘Invented’: the ‘modernist’ or ‘functionalist’ definition – nationalism as typically ‘modern’ phenomenon, invented by elites to serve the interests of the state and the economy (for example military; everyone had to speak the same language to communicate in the army)
What is the discussion of Nationalism and the International Order about?
- Nationalism is commonly regarded as posing a challenge to international stability, and to regional and global order more generally
- Arguably, nationalism encourages narrowly defined zero-sum security policies; it works against compromises and consensus; it undermines international trust and cooperation
What are reasons why nationalism is good?
- nationalism possibly contributed more than any other political idea to the development and the legitimacy of international order
- Euro-scepticism, secessionism or irredentism and other manifestations of resistance against national and international integration do not alter the crucial role of the national state in international relations, or of the global system as much > Nationalism always tries to strengthen the national state
How does Heywood explain the rise of identity politics (nationalism)?
- A reaction against the idea that ‘westernization’ (including liberal democracy) provides the only viable model for modernization (especially powerful in the immediate post-Cold War decades)
- More specifically, a response by the discontents of globalization (‘anti-globalization nationalism’ beyond and within the ‘West’)
- And it is a strategy of growing significance for emerging powers (domestically and internationally) and for other political actors (see also Heywood on the ‘fundamentalist upsurge’ and ‘Islam and the West’)
What does a nation refer to?
Refers to ‘the people’; a part of the population or the population at large
- Group of people that often has traits in common
- Features such as: language, geography, norms and values, religion
What does National identity refer to?
idea that every nation is different on the basis of specific features of identity
What does ethnicity refer to?
very specific historically formed group of people
- Common heritage, and common past/present/future
What are Loose Nukes?
- Nuclear material that has been stolen from installations and military bases in the former SU and offered for sale on the black market.
- Implications terrifying, especially if they fall in the hands of terrorists = political leverage.
What are Proxy wars?
Essentially a war that is instigated from a major power, that does not directly involve itself. Like in the Cold War, many proxy wars were fought wherein the two sides were trying to exert their influence.
What is Neoconservatism?
Political movement born in the US during the 1960s among people who became sick and tired of the pacifist policies of the democrats. The characteristics include advocating the promotion of democracy, and peace through strength (i.e. military force).
