This essay looks into national and transnational entities. The essay looks into characteristics of modern nation states and makes distinctions between nation, state and nation states. Further, the essay considers how the United States fits into the description of a nation state.
The essay also discusses transnational entities with the European Union as a perfect example of such. Finally, the interrelations between the United States and the European Union are discussed to illustrate how nation states engage with transnational entities to achieve their interests
A nation state is a defined territory occupied by people of a given cultural background. An example of a modern nation state is Portugal. Portugal is a nation state because the Portuguese; which is a distinct cultural group has occupied the defined territory over a long period of time.
The Portuguese form nationhood while the territory that frames area of political jurisdiction frames the state. A nation differs from a state in the sense that a state refers to a political entity while a nation is characterized more by cultural and ethnic characteristics (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 343).
A nation state therefore refers to a political entity or territory under the jurisdiction of a given political regime and is characterized by a people of certain distinct cultural or ethnic characteristics. Additionally, modern nation states have one common culture, a constitution, a currency system and a distinct national language.
A nation can be described as a union of people who come together as one unit based on same language or culture. For example, England is a nation composed of English people. The English have distinctive language and cultural practices. A state is a territory manned by one government that controls all within the boundaries on behalf of the people in the territory (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 342).
A state establishes a clear legal systems that governs or directs or operations. An example of a state is South Africa. As already discussed, the nation state is where people of same cultural characteristics or background are under one political entity or state (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 168). A good example of a nation state as already indicated is Portugal.
The United States of America has all the characteristics of a modern nation state. A modern nation state is characterized by a defined territory over which one government exercises jurisdiction and the people share in a common culture. The USA is a territory with defined boundaries over which the central government in Washington exercises jurisdiction. The boundaries frame the fixed territory that is USA. The territory does not change and is recognized internationally.
American is a sovereign nation state. Sovereignty refers to total jurisdiction over a territory that can not be interfered with by any outside force. The US government exercises sovereign power over all that goes on in the fixed territory that is recognized internationally. International recognition of a state is crucial because it provides for the mutual respect between nation states. The mutual respect guarantees sovereignty because any country or state that interferes in the operations of another risks aggression from other states.
Common culture is a phrase that refers to values, beliefs, traditions that are shared by a given people (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 153). Americans are very distinctive people because of the common culture in which they share. Some of the characteristic cultural values or characteristics that Americans share are a strong belief in freedom, assertiveness, change oriented and casualness in their approach to issues.
Some of these cultural values were either borrowed from other cultures e.g. in the course of colonization by the English. There are days recognized by the government I. e. the national holidays such as the veterans day, independence day, thanks giving day, memorial day and the labor day (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 185).
United States is the most influential country in the world and wields a lot of influence on other countries’ foreign policies. The main objective of the US foreign policy is to promote democratic values for the benefit of Americans and all other nations. The second major objective is to safe guard the interests of the Americans in international engagement e.g. by ensuring American businesses in other countries are safe.
A transnational entity refers to a political-economic and social entity composed of many nation states under a harmonized structure. The European Union is a good example of a transnational entity (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 463).
The organization was realized after a number of developments that have their roots in World War II. World War II had devastating effects on the political economy and social structures in many European nations. To deal with post WWII challenges, a number of unconsolidated bodies were formed among European nations.
The unconsolidated bodies gradually transformed themselves in a number of European communities. In 1992, the Maastricht treaty augmented or set pace for the formation of a supranational outfit. The different pillars or the European Union took shape through the Amsterdam and Nice treaties. Finally in 2007 through the Lisbon treaty, the European Union with its current institutions and characteristics was established.
The European Union has five institutions that run its affairs. The first institution is the EU parliament. This parliament has representatives elected from different EU countries. The members of the EU parliamentarians are elected directly by the citizens of member countries. The second institution is the EU presidency which rotates on a six month basis. Every six months, a new EU member takes over the chairmanship or presidency of the EU council.
The EU council is a decision making body composed of ministers from member nations. The European commission is another institution that makes proposals with regards to legislation that is considered by parliament and council. The EU has a court of Justice which interprets EU legislation so that the different national courts do not hold different views on the same. The final EU institution is the Court of Auditors which ensures EU funds are spent appropriately.
As currently instituted, the European Union facilitates closer relation among member countries and acts as a counter power to the influence of super powers like the US in the world. It consolidates the capacity of member nations into one capacity that is best placed to compete in the globalized world. The current foreign policy objectives of the EU are in tandem with ensuring world security and economic growth for its member nations through benefits that accrue from its increased market potential.
National states and transnational entities aim at safeguarding their interests on the global scene through a number of ways. In international trade, USA and the European Union have engaged in either multilateral and bilateral arrangements or alliances aimed at better trading between them. The multilateral and bilateral arrangements aim at establishing favorable treatment of goods from given countries thus facilitating more trade.
Through diplomacy, which is also called soft power, the transnational entities and nation states influence how decisions that affect the whole world are determined. For example, in recent talks about global warming, the US came in strongly and diplomatically roped in a few allies to help pass some helpful resolution in relation to cutting on carbon emissions. Diplomacy is one key tool for both national states and international entities to safeguard their interests.
Another tool that is used is threat of force. Countries like the USA have bullied some other smaller countries into towing the line or risk invasion. The European Union as a block is a huge military power. Through use of their collective security capacity i.e. organs like NATO have safeguarded both interests of member nation states and the transnational entities as a whole (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 485).
The efforts nation states and transnational entities take to safeguard their interests directly impact on the balance of power in international politics.
When nations form alliances or transnational entities take unilateral foreign policy decisions, they directly affect the balance of power in international politics (Perry, & Perry, 1999, p. 487). The efforts make some countries sovereignty more compromised than others. When sovereignty is compromised, it means that such a country does not have much clout with which to safeguard its interests.
In conclusion, the formation of transnational entities and alliances has made nationhood and state jurisdiction even more porous. Consequently, sovereignty of nations is no longer as sacrosanct as it was traditionally. With globalization and tendency towards more interrelation between nations, many states remain as merely territories but much that goes on within them is controlled internationally. The interaction between nation states and engagements of transnational entities tilts international politics.
Reference List
Perry, J. A., & Perry, E., (1999). Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Social Science. 9th Ed., Boston: Allyn and Bacon,