Nationalism
Nationalism is a widely held sentiment by the national population thatplaces the existence and well-being of the individual people group, ornation highest in the often conflicting scale of political loyalties. Inpolitical terms, nationalism signifies a person's willingness to work forthe nation against foreign domination, whether threatened politically,economically, or culturally. Nationalism is not only seen in time of warand during military armed conflict. Nationalism can also be seen by onegroup's desires to guide their own destiny, and pursue the goals and dreamswhich the individual group holds as important to them. As such, nationalismcannot be imposed on a group of people, but must rise up from theindividual desires of those who seek individual and national identity.Under this broader definition, nationalism can be understood as a universallonging of each individual for freedom and the freedom to direct the courseof his or her own life as an individual and a collective group. Nationalism implies a group's consciousness, and most often is seenamong people groups of shared history, language, race, and values.Nationalism's significance lies in its role in supplying the ties that make
Nationalism, which spread as a force creating the desire forfreedom in Asia and Africa during the struggle against colonialism afterWorld Wars I and II, now has been succeeded individual nations such asEgypt and India. One of the tactics used in this ongoingculture war is an attempt to redefine history in terms of current socialideology. Still others do not consider capitalism as a fully-fledged influential factor involved in shaping the destiny of a nationuntil the Industrial Revolution of the mid-eighteenth century took place. For example at the end of the second world war, the untied states, which isclearly a nation which holds a strong national self interest, dropped theFat man and Little Boy atomic bombs on Japan in order to bring the conflictto an end. Thus the deep roots of conflict were sown between France, Germany,Austria, Russia, and the other Baltic states which resulted in igniting twoworld wars. While the actions ofthe government were lauded in the past, today's citizen is experiencing aredefinition of the events, and as such his loyalty toward his nation ischanging. Nationalism is the desirefor a people to rule themselves. Nationalism and forces whichmust create a civil society now are working at the same time, and must findan alliance between them in order for this region of the world to findpeace, freedom, and the gain right for self determinism which the peopleso dearly desire. As such,nationalism is an ongoing social construct, which guides the nation towardself identity, and continues to protect the nation ongoing identity. Due to the tribal nature of nationalism, borders could thus bechanged without popular outcry against the violation of national integrity. Nash, Crabtree and Dunn (1997) expand on this idea as they discusshow national interest is currently in a state of flux between conservativeand liberal political ideologies. According to Lovell, (1999) the collapse of communismin Eastern Europe was a revolution for freedom and nationalism conceived asthe combined rejection of Soviet domination and affirmation of the rightsof a civil society to guide their own destiny. While nationalism affects the hearts, actions, and desires ofthe individual, it seems that political leaders have learned that they canaffect the direction of the masses by harnessing the nationalistictendencies and slanting them in the direction of their own individualpurposes. For the generation which endured the horrors of war, thesemassive weapons were a relief because they brought to an end a bloody andlingering conflict. Within the first 25 years after World War II, 66 newnations were created in other parts of the world, and nationalism remains astrong ideology and an important force in world politics Just as nationalism becomes a driving force for the establishment ofa nation, nationalism must also be courted and entertained like a shyfarmer's daughter in order to maintain the social cohesion of a nation.
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