State And Nation PDF

STATE AND NATION MAKING SENSE OF POLITICS TOPIC 1 1 QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED: What is a modern state? Is a state the same as a nation? What is state/national sovereignty? Challenges facing the modern state? 2 THE WORLD AS WE KNOW...

STATE AND NATION MAKING SENSE OF POLITICS TOPIC 1 1 QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED: What is a modern state? Is a state the same as a nation? What is state/national sovereignty? Challenges facing the modern state? 2 THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT 3 FOR SOME PEOPLE… 4 THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE 5 LAST TIME I CHECKED… 6 IF IT IS ONLY IMAGINATION, WHY NOT…? 7 THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT… CONTAINS MANY STATES… 8 THE STATE SYSTEM United Nations: 193 states (since 2011) Almost leave no space left on Earth UN Art.1 (2): “To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…” UN Art.2 (1): “The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.” 9 THE STATE SYSTEM The world is composed of state A basic building block of global politics What is a state? A type of political organization, a political community What a state can embody: equal rights and self-determination of peoples sovereign equality (size of a state doesn’t matter, sovereign states should be equal among themselves) 10 FEATURES OF A SOVEREIGN STATE Entails a territory Clearly defined borders Entails a people Composing the citizenry As opposed to foreigners/ aliens Entails authority to control the lives of the people Cooperation Coordination Coercion (law and punishment) 11 FEATURES OF A STATE 12 BEFORE THE MODERN STATE – IN EUROPE State is only one among many forms of political organizations Before the rise of state Feudal system in Europe 13 BEFORE THE MODERN STATE – IN CHINA Tian-xia (The Under-heaven 天下) conception of China Some sense of boundaries (soft) 14 BEFORE THE MODERN STATE – IN CHINA Before Qin-Han empire State – 國 for a long time = city centers 15 BEFORE THE MODERN STATE But some people nearly has no sense of boundaries e.g. Native Americans How can land and river be owned ? 16 BIRTH OF MODERN STATE Originated in Europe with a concrete date: 24th October 1648 The Peace of Westphalia (1648) 17 THE HARD-EARNED LESSON FROM THE THIRTY-YEARS WAR They (finally) understood… 1. People will always have diverse religious views 2. You can’t change their religious views 3. You can’t kill them all either, because there are simply too many of them 4. If you try, everybody dies, no one wins 18 BIRTH OF MODERN STATE 1. How are kingdoms different How the 30 Years‘ War Led to Modern Countries： from states? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWbYcE_kCo 2. What are the essential 3 dimensions of the principle of sovereignty? 3. Why were empires difficult to maintain themselves? 19 THE NOTION OF SOVEREIGNTY Sovereignty is a much older notion Not combined with territory or nation Jean Bodin (1530-96) Sovereignty is a power: Highest Unlimited Indivisible Absolutist Westphalia = state + sovereignty; Sovereignty attributed to state 20 THE NOTION OF SOVEREIGNTY Too powerful & too dangerous Who should own it? The Monarch vs The people Influenced by both older tradition and social contractarian tradition Popular Sovereignty National Sovereignty 21 NATION AND THE STATE Nation and state are used as synonyms E.g. United Nations Nation ≠ state What do you think a Nation is? When I say “French” or “German” or “Chinese,” what do you think of? 22 NATION: WHAT IS IT? Nation is a broader concept than the state It is a political, cultural, and historical term Features of a nation Common language Common history Common ethnicity Common culture Non-existent if by strict definition 23 I KNOW IT WHEN I SEE ONE…? Hugh Seton-Watson: “I am driven to the conclusion that no "scientific definition" of the nation can be devised; yet the phenomenon has existed and exists.” ~ Nations and states ~ 24  PATHOLOGY…? Tom Nairn: "Nationalism" is the pathology of modern developmental history, as inescapable as "neurosis" in the individual, with much the same essential ambiguity attaching to it… and largely incurable.” (The Break-up of Britain) 25  "Nationalism" is the pathology of modern developmental history, as inescapable as "neurosis" in the individual, with much the same essential ambiguity attaching to Who were “neurotic” ? it… and largely incurable.” (The Break-up of Britain) Teachers quit in Hong Kong over focus on patriotism (2022) 26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeavxgrrogk IMAGINED COMMUNITY Benedict Anderson: (1936-2015) “[Nation] is an imagined political community, and imagined both as limited and sovereign.” ~ Imagined Communities ~ 27  September 11 Attacks (2001) IMAGINED COMMUNITY Imagined community – how come: No one ever get to meet everyone But one has a profound sense of connection Deep comradeship Limited: Established boundary My nation is not yours Sovereign: Free to chart its own course Manila Hostage Crisis (2010) 28 NATION AND THE STATE Nation-state A nation with its own state (e.g. France) A nation in different states (e.g. Germany/ Austria) Multinational state A state with more than one nation (e.g. People’s Republic of China) Stateless / diaspora nation A nation which lacks its own state People are spread across several countries (e.g. Kurds, Palestinians) 29 FORMS OF NATION STATES Conventional state Supra-nation state European Union To what extent is it really a state? Currency, judiciary, borders Finance, military, administration 30 THE RISE OF NATION STATE Since Westphalia, states began to develop Development of Nationalism In 19th century, a major increase of nation states Unifications Germany, Italy Disintegrations Austrian Empire Russian Empire Ottoman Empire 31 THE RISE OF NATION STATE Western imperialism & the spread of state system Other forms of political communities were threatened Transformation Japan China Turkey Colonization Administered under colonial empire Indigenous political organization wiped out or incorporated 32 DO YOU HAVE A FLAG ? 33 THE RISE OF NATION STATE Post-WWII state building Decolonization in 1940s-60s The break down of colonial empires The former colonies inherited the colonial administrative structure Takes the form of national independence 34 35 SOVEREIGNTY Should sovereignty be unlimited? UN Art.2 (7): “Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.” What do you think? Who defines what “matters’? 36 (June 2023) 37  (June 2023) 38 (3 Sept 2024)  WHAT IS TAIWAN? A state? A nation? A country? A nation-state? A stateless-nation? 39 States, Nations, Countries & Sovereignty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZBrniZx-Gw DARK SIDE OF SOVEREIGNTY Oppressions Human right violations Genocide E.g. Rwanda 800,000 dead in 100 days The world sat back and did nothing Srebrenica 1995 UN ‘safe haven’ in 1993 Massacre of 8000 40  Never Again “if humanitarian intervention is, indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to a Rwanda, to a Srebrenica – to gross and systematic violations of human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity?” 41  “Those who sneer at history obviously do not recall that the legal doctrine of national sovereignty and the principle of noninterference-- enshrined, by the way, in the U.N. Charter--emerged at the end of the devastating Thirty Years War, to inhibit a repetition of the depredations of the 17th century, during which perhaps 40 percent of the population of Central Europe perished in the name of competing versions of universal truth.” 42  FUNCTION OF STATE (1) State building and survival Challenges: e.g. Corruption Francis Fukuyama (state building) Scope of state functions vs small government Strength of state institution Ability of plan and execute the policies and to enforce laws cleanly and transparently 43 FUNCTION OF STATE (I) Small govt, (II) Big govt, powerful powerful Strength (III) Small govt, not (IV) Big govt, not of state powerful powerful institutions Scope of state functions 44 FUNCTION OF STATE (2) Foster legitimacy and nation building Challenges: legitimacy crisis (3) Foster identity Challenges: sense of belonging (4) Participation Challenges: willingness of government (5) Distribution (who gets what) Challenges: inequalities 45 CHALLENGE I: FAILED STATES What counts as failure? An ambiguous notion Weak institution? Serious violation of human rights? Disintegrated state? Collapsed state? No clear consensus Examples: Somalia, Sudan… 46 FAILED / FRAGILE STATES Observable features Imploded structure of power and authority No longer monopolize legitimate use of violence Unable to provide services or governance Collapse of law and order Unable to provide security Unable to administer justice Intensive internal violence Absence of legitimate state representative 47 CHALLENGE II: GLOBALIZATION Globalization: a process in which Increased similarities, connectedness and interdependence Globalization has posed significant challenges against nation states Cross border problems Relative power of MNCs Economic mutual dependence Non-state actors Weakening the autonomy of states 48 A) CROSS BORDER PROBLEMS Export → rise of AIDS Open borders and huge flow of populations Bring diseases and other problems across borders What about other epidemic Ebola, flu, bird flu, SARS, Zika, COVID-19 Many other cross border problems Drug trafficking Human trafficking Small arms trafficking … The list goes on 49 B) CROSS BORDER CAPITAL Economic globalization weakens state’s control Flow of capital weaken the bargaining power of states Especially redistribution capacity, i.e. tax & welfare Concentration of economic power in Multinational Corporations Capitalization easily measure up to the GDP of a few states (富可敵國s) 50 CROSS BORDER CAPITAL Global economy creates mutual dependence Not many states can afford being cut off from global economy States need to trade Subject to interference of other more powerful states through trade agreements WTO and economic liberalization Weakens the autonomy of the states 51 C) NON-STATE ACTORS Globalization creates opportunities for non-state actors Improved communication, productivity, information flow Greater room for international NGOs to function Enable also international terrorists Haiti, after the earthquake of 2010 Over 1000 NGOs on site Practically running the country (in many ways) 52 “REPUBLIC OF NGOS” IN HAITI (2001) 53 SURVIVAL OF THE STATE ?! Just 2 decades ago, heated debate about the relevance of the state Yet still the most important actor Domestic International Urgent questions: How to tame the state power for public welfare How to rebuild the failed states How to respond to challenges brought by globalization Westphalia system is unlikely to go, but it is also unlikely to be kept unscratched. 54 NEXT LECTURE… GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS 55