Nationalism and Its Effect to Globalization

Nationalism is a very powerful tool, which can be dangerous if mishandled. It is also similar to tribalism and family which are held together by a sense of kinship. This has facilitated it use by politicians as an opportunity to gain grassroot support for a common goal. The concept of nationalism is vague to many; in this case leaders can shape the concept to refer to virtually anything increasing the vulnerable to people. In essence, nationalism mean’s the strongest sense of identification an individual has in relation to a particular nation. According to Liah Greenfield, Professor of Sociology at Boston University he has defined nationalism as:

"An image of a social order, which involves the people as a sovereign elite and a community of equals".

The difference between a nation and tribe is that, a nation is larger than a tribe and the relationship of nation members is similar to relationship of its citizen. There are several causes of nationalism which have been identified as similar to the root cause of World War 1 to today’s regional and international conflicts, these include; mutual defense alliances where a group of countries make agreements to pull together in a battle to fight a common enemy incase a member is attacked. For instance before First World War there existed several alliances like Serbia and Russia, Russia and France, Britain and Japan among others. In some instances an alliances would declare war but later on, the war could escalate further to alliances when they are defending their allies. Also imperialism caused nationalism as the country tried to extend its power of control and wealth to extra territories. For instance before the First World War parts of Africa and Asia were considered contentious among E...

... middle of paper ...

...ruggle to set up an interim regime contested by many. Australians, who had felt largely untouched by world conflict, have seen themselves being forced onto the stage of world politics as a results of terrorist in Bali have seen themselves. Palestinians continue to lose the battle of the occupied territories, and the headquarters of the Palestine authorities are under constant siege in response to yet another deadly raid on Israel civilians (P.741).

Finally, one can concur to the fact that a nation-state today will remain as the only firm foundation and framework to political struggle. Although recent demonstrations that are being carried out in the whole world seem to mark a new departure for political resistances.

Works Cited

New Left Review.(2000,4th July-August ).Globalization and Political Strategy.January, 2010, from http://newleftreview.org/A2255