Nationalism: definitions, causes, and historical manifestations

Nationalism is an ideology that focuses on a single nation. It stresses the welfare of the people in that nation over the welfare of the rest of the people in the world and emphasizes national over local loyalty. Nationalism is a relatively new sociological phenomenon, which developed around two hundred years ago, the same time as the modern concept of the nation. Nationalism is significant because its rise has occurred at the same time as the rise in modern warfare and nationalism can be linked to alarming ideological trends. For example, nationalist can range from extreme isolationists who fail to intervene in world problems, like the United States after World War I, to nations bent on something more akin to world domination, like the Third Reich, but either variant gives little room for individual difference. As a result, nationalism can keep countries from cooperation, either because of indifference or fear, which creates a barrier to effective collective security.

At the beginning of the 20th century, nationalism was characterized by a desire to develop a state or nation for each ethnic group. Obviously, Nazi Germany, with its program to separate those it considered other, such as gypsies, homosexuals, Catholics, and Jews, from the Aryan population is a the most well-recognized example of that form of nationalism. However, it is important to understand that other countries shared this type of exclusive nationalism. In the southern United States, Jim Crow laws were aimed at prohibiting African-Americans from mixing with the white population. While the northern United States was not so rigidly divided along color lines, it was not uncommon for the most recent groups of immigrants to experience tremendous discrimination in big cities. In addition some minority groups were advocating developing their own nations. For example, freed slaves had success with establishing Liberia as a colony and then an independent nation in Africa in the 19th century. Moreover, at the end of the 19th century, some Jews began to push for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.

By the end of the century, many world leaders began to reject the ideals of nationalism. Instead of stressing responsibility to one's country, they began to stress responsibility to the world. In fact, the world economy was subject to globalization, and growing concerns about the effects of environmental pollution on all of the people in the world ushered in a growing sense of cosmopolitanism. However, that does not mean that nationalism died out. On the contrary, many Western nations continued to engage in a sort of cultural nationalism, in which they linked financial and other forms of aid for foreign countries to certain cultural conditions. In addition, though many countries discussed a global agenda, the majority continued to promote national interests at the cost of others, especially third-world nations.

Today, nationalism continues to be a force for divisiveness. In almost every setting, nationalism is touted as a source of unity, but one must always examine who is welcome to be part of the unified whole. For example, in the Middle East, the Taliban promoted cultural nationalism, seeking to have countries, most notably Afghanistan, run under Islamic law. However, only extreme fundamentalist views of Islam were considered tolerable. This phenomenon has occurred in the United States as well, where nationalism after 9/11 led to decrease tolerance for ethnic and religious diversity.