MARYAM TARIQ ASSIGNMENT

FA17-BBA-208(5D) INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Nationalism
Nationalism is all about placing your country above others, not hating other nations but
loving your own one. It is about standing up for your nation and not letting your nation get
bullied by others. It is about treating your citizens as a family and recognizing the needs of
your fellow citizens.

Nationalism helps to bind a large no of people together. I don’t know most of the people of
Pakistan but yes still we’re connected with each other because of nationalism - through the
realization of territorial sovereignty and through the feel of being Pakistani. We have so
much diversity in terms of religion, language, ethnicity, cultural practice, food and lifestyle
etc. I think we couldn’t survive without the sense of nationalism, without the strong feel that
we are, foremost, all Pakistani. It gives rise to the need of self-governance and self-
dependency. It demands loyalty toward nation. I mean if nationalism means loyalty towards
nation then I highly respect it but if it means admiring one nation over other then that is
when the problems start. It becomes fascism. The belief, “us vs. them”, debates about how
well and superior we are in contrast to other nations. People take superiority in successes
that they had no contribution in. such things can also lead to racism.

I think nationalism leads to imperialism, because for imperialism, nationalism is required. In

order to implement imperialism most important thing is to have the support of the people.
And the only possible way to have a full support of people is to promote nationalism.