Politics & International Relations
Expansionist Nationalism
Expansionist nationalism refers to a political ideology that advocates for the expansion of a nation's territory, influence, or power. It often involves the belief in the superiority of one's own nation and the desire to assert dominance over other nations through territorial expansion, colonization, or military conquest. This ideology has historically led to conflicts and imperialism as nations sought to expand their borders and influence.
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3 Key excerpts on "Expansionist Nationalism"
eBook - PDFEthnic Nationalism and State Power
The Rise of Irish Nationalism, Afrikaner Nationalism and Zionism
- M. Suzman(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
5 International Politics and State Power INTRODUCTION Nationalist movements are frequently studied as if, apart from external ideological influences, they remain insulated from global affairs. The dynamic of ethnic mobilisation is seen primarily as a phenomenon which occurs within state boundaries. In practice, however, such move- ments rarely ± if ever ± develop in complete isolation from the broader international arena. On one level international events, relations with other states or movements, and broader geopolitical shifts can all have direct repercussions on both the shape of nationalist strategies and their success or failure. On another, achieving independent statehood, the ultimate political objective of nationalism, necessarily implies securing international recognition as well as domestic sovereignty. As Chapter 4 suggested, extraneous geopolitical events strongly influ- enced the nature and outcome of the nationalist struggle in each of the case studies. In addition, nationalist leaders were painfully aware of the need to achieve both de jure recognition for their claims as well as de facto control over their respective states. This chapter examines the implications of the international dimension of national mobilisa- tion, focusing particularly on the issue of sovereignty. It argues that in each case the movement's domestic strategies were linked directly to international ones and helped them to secure both internal and inter- national legitimacy in the drive for state power. IRELAND This section argues that international influences had a sustained impact on national mobilisation in Ireland. In particular, it suggests that international diplomacy played a key part in gaining support for Irish claims to sovereignty, particularly from the United States. It shows how this resulted in the final push for power taking place at two levels.
eBook - PDFRethinking the End of Empire
Nationalism, State Formation, and Great Power Politics
- Lynn M. Tesser(Author)
- 2024(Publication Date)
- Stanford University Press(Publisher)
7 Such approaches have often been linked with trends in great power problem-framing to- wards unrest, trends that have also been overlooked in these studies. The powers’ multifaceted and intermittent opportunism towards issues of self-determination may be of particular interest to analysts focused on great power competition, as well as idealists striving to elevate justice and equality. For scholars of social mobilization, this book adds interaction with major powers to an already robust explanatory tool kit featuring social network analysis, attention to activists’ framing strategies and host state policies, among other factors (e.g., relative deprivation, alienation). 8 Rethinking Nations and Nationalism Under Empire Analysts who see nationalism as a key catalyst of state birth often portray it as a destabilizing force eroding a government’s power and authority. Nationalism may also be assumed to have a role in the fusion of varied regions and cultures together into a singular entity, or to work in tandem with internal colonialism—when more powerful regions dominate less powerful ones. 9 Such variation suggests the utility of a broad definition of nationalism as the expression of a variety of concepts of nation and of differing goals (e.g., national recognition within a larger imperial formation), whereas nation-statism is a specific demand for a single government for one nation in a contiguous territorial area. 10 Nation refers to a socially, politically, and discursively constructed entity linked with particular populations understood as possessing some degree of shared culture and right to self-rule. 11 The nation-state concept refer- ences thinking central to nationalist ideology: the state serving as a territorial home for a particular nation and allowing its self-determination. Citizens are assumed to be equal in principle, though national or other minorities may be accorded rights on an individual or group basis.
eBook - PDFNationalism
Theories and Cases
- Erika Harris(Author)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- EUP(Publisher)
The individual, the state, the legitimacy of the state and the identity of the political community, and thus the ability to pursue the interests of the people and legitimise the actions on their behalf all merge into the politics of the nation state. This political approach can also explain better the success or failure of nationalist movements seeking greater autonomy within Theories of Nations and Nationalism 59 the state or even the separation from the state and the unification with the neighbouring kin state – once the sentiment is translated into political action, nationalism makes more sense in terms of its aspirations. 31 So, whether we are observing separation-seeking nationalisms of the former Yugoslav republics, or an autonomy-seeking Hungarian minority in post-communist Europe, or the Palestinian struggle for the extrication from Israeli occupation, nationalism is an action-orientated political movement seeking control of a territory. All of those movements will be discussed at greater length in the following chapters. The tools of the nationalist trade, however, are not always forward looking. Nairn spoke of nationalism as being a ‘modern Janus’ – Janus was the Roman god with two faces, one looking forward and one back. The backward glances are looking into the past of the nation to seek joys of victories, recall pains of defeats and appeal to the wisdom of the people who have survived the past and must ‘gather strength’ for the struggle ahead. 32 This, of course, assumes that the story of the nation is a real one and that there is a past that can be tapped into in a constructive way for the task in hand. I don’t want to spend much time reminding the reader that the power of nationalist elites to spin a story is not limitless – it needs the audience to respond and to respond with a sense of recogni-tion and emotiveness which reinforces a sense of common destiny, and therefore a common future.
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