Nationalism and International

Relations

Revision Class

Today we will
Review

key concepts
Discuss exam writing techniques
Practice Answer Session

What is nationalism?
A doctrine

invented in Europe at the beginning of

the nineteenth century
It asserts that humanity may be divided into
nations and on this basis claims to provide:
(1) a criterion for determining the unit of population

proper to enjoy a government exclusively its own

(2) for the legitimate exercise of power in the state and
(3) for the right organization of the society of states

The Problem of Nationalism

Yet,

while the ideology of nationalism has inspired

many hitherto subject peoples, it offers little
practical guidance in determining which
collectivities may reasonably claim a right to
sovereignty and which may not.
Why? Because the nation remains a fundamentally
contested concept
As a result, this is an imperfect solution of the
ancient problem: where does sovereignty lie?

The Nation as a Contest

Concept
The

nation can be defined in a variety of

ways with very different political
consequences
Civic vs Ethnic
Modernist vs Primordialist

Civic Nations
Defined

by pre-existing jurisdiction and

shared political institutions (plebiscite / uti
posseditis juris)
Fits experience of English, French and
American revolutionaries
Juridical (Peoples) Self-Determination
The state makes the nation
Policies of assimilation towards minorities

Ethnic Nations
Defined

by purportedly natural sociological

characteristics and seeks to remake political
map accordingly(secession / irredentism)

Fits

experience of Central, Eastern and Southern

European revolutionaries
National Self-Determination
Nation makes (or breaks) the state
Polices

of elimination towards minorities

Nationalism and other

Ideologies
Nationalism

has also had an ambiguous and

sometimes even adversarial relationship with rival
ideologies
Liberalism vs Nationalism contests on the
relationship between the individual and group
Communism vs Nationalism contests the
relationship between universalism and pluralism
Fascism versus Nationalism contests the
relationship between Race and Nation

National Self-Determination
Woodrow

Wilson 1919
Basis for decolonization in Europe and creation of a
more just and lasting territorial settlement
Never intended to apply outside Europe
Application there contradictory both plebiscites,
ethnography and real politik
Committee on New States became known as
committee on New States and National Minorities
League of Nations System of Minority Guarantees

Peoples Right to SelfDetermination

United

Nations Charter
Peoples defined juridicaly
Basis for decolonization in Africa and Asia
and later also recognition of new states
following end of Cold War (break-up of
Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and
Yugoslavia)

Who may claim self-determination today?

(1) mandated territories, trust territories, and other territories considered to

be self-governing according to chapter XI of the UN Charter (Palau 1994)
(2) distinct jurisdictions subject to carence de souverainete (e.g.,
Bangladesh? Kosovo?)
(3) territories in which self-determination is agreed through democratic
negotiation or plebiscite (Slovakia and Czech Republic, Serbia and
Montenegro)
(4) highest level constituent units of a federal state in the process of
dissolution or break-up according to the principle of uti posseditis iuris (e.g.,
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and SerbiaMontenegro)
(5) and formerly independent entities reasserting their independence with at
least the tacit consent of the established state in which incorporation was
either illegal or of questionable legality (e.g., Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia)

The Future of Nationalism

Despite

these legal niceties, many sociological

groups continue to aspire to independent statehood
Many others clamour for recognition of their
distinctiveness within existing states (national
minorities and indigenous peoples)
Result: nationalism remains a potential source of
instability and conflict within and between states
Consequently, international society continues to
struggle with issues arising from nationalism

Q&A
Do

you have any specific questions or

points of clarification related to the
syllabus?