Introduction
A number of nations have been negatively affected by the development of transnational and supranational structures. This happens because people become less patriotic to the nation and which eventually leads to a lack of economic and political independence. On the other hand, supranational and transnational structures have had a great number of positive impacts on other nations that have realized political and economic independence and are patriotic.
This implies that nations that are independent adopt what is beneficial to them from a foreign culture and political orientations. Transnational structures have been thought to be detrimental to the nation-state which is not the case as only the political structure is altered.
The implementation of supranational and transnational structures has become very popular in present-day society due to the ever-increasing need for international cooperation meant to achieve global goals. This can be illustrated by the international standards set in almost all regions of the world. This paper investigates the role of nationalism and nation-states in the utilization of supranational and transnational structures.
Nationalism and Nation-states
Nationalism is defined as the act of being patriotic to a people’s own country, in other words showing attachment and love for the country or state. Nationalism leads to unity among people of the same country (Kastoryano 1). This arises because of the spirit of nationalism that bonds them together due to the similarity in language, history, religion, traditions, culture, and identity. Thus there may be state nationalism or cultural nationalism depending on what bonds the people together.
There are instances where the above factors that our culture, language etcetera act as the point of separation, especially when there is no similarity. The spirit of nationalism is what emerges the people thus leading to a peaceful united state. This spirit of nationalism in countries is enhanced by national anthems, flags, memorial days and patriotic days. Nationalism on the other hand if not properly handled and coordinated may bring about disunity leading to political chaos hence wars in the country.
This happens when the citizens rise to fight for personal and political rights, especially when things in the country are not being done as desired (Ngoshi 6). Countries that practice nationalism may at times suffer more during economic hardships since the nation’s borders are closed for any help from other countries that may be willing to offer aid. This, therefore, justifies that nationalism may be an asset as well as a hindrance to development and opportunities.
Nation –states are countries that are independent in governance. This could be political, cultural or economic independence. Such states preserve certain cultural, political and economic values. Additionally, these states form independent governments that are not pressurized by external bodies. The governments control the resources of the nation without any preconditions or interference. A nation-state has balanced power when it comes to leadership (Kastoryano 1).
Nation-states usually have higher authority in politics and other internal matters. These states are also characterized by believing that boundaries should not be interfered with or transferred under any circumstances. Examples of nation-states in the world include; Bangladesh, Iceland, Poland, Egypt just to mention but a few.
Transnational and supranational structures
A supranational structure is one that creates room for interaction with other states in terms of political involvement, social values beyond boundaries. In this case, territories and boundaries are let wide open creating one common field for all. Transnational structures are referred to like those that have come up due to the migration of people from one state to another. Immigrants end up sharing cultures, languages, politics, ethics, religions, and other socio-economic activities (Metcalf 1).
The migration is mostly brought about factors such as the rising need for global operations, displaced refugees and the desire to be attached to another country, for example, the situation in Europe where most people in the world are seeking European nationalism. Transnational movement is not as easy as thought since there are transaction prices to be settled before any movement. The transaction prices include differences in languages, lacking information of the other nation or at times insufficient funds for travel.
Role of nationalism and nation states
Nationalism plays a very important role in its integration with supranational and transnational structures. Citizens that preserve nationalism normally show national and cultural loyalty. Therefore supranational and transnational structures are, arguably, likely to have positive impacts in these countries. This is because such countries appreciate and respect other countries and other people’s cultures while maintaining indigenous cultural beliefs.
The adoption of other people’s cultures or the over-appreciation of other countries may make people forsake indigenous culture which may lead to over-reliance on foreign countries. This is because the effects of a change in culture, politics, and ethics may touch virtually all realms of life. For example, if a given country does not adopt the culture of another country, the effect will be that the former country will not be over-reliant on the latter country in terms of trade, economic welfare, and political stability etc (Ngoshi 1).
On the other hand, if a given country adopts a large number of cultural elements from another country, the former will be reliant on the latter in terms of trade, political influence, etc. For instance, cultural over-reliance on other people’s culture may necessitate the importation of certain goods related to the adopted culture. These goods may be clothes, foodstuffs, and others that characterize the adopted culture and the like (Kastoryano 4)
Additionally, the existence of nation-states is very instrumental in the avoidance of neo-colonialism. The ideas and establishment of neo-colonialism may come along with transnational and supranational structures since the stated structures have a lot of impact on countries that lack operational independence. This implies that if a country is over-reliant on another country politically or economically, it is likely to reap negative effects from supranational and transnational structures (Metcalf 1).
On the other hand, a country that has a reasonable level of economic and political independence will be respected by other countries and thus any relationship between the two countries must be mutual. This means that the countries will borrow equally from each other’s culture and no one country between the two will need to be over-protecting the relationship.
The effect of this will be non-interference in political matters and fair trade agreements between the two countries. Countries should, therefore, strive to be independent politically, economically, and culture-wise to avoid unhealthy interference by other countries, which could be in the form of forced establishment of supranational and transnational structures (Rourke 1).
Conclusion
As evidenced in the discussion above, the effects that supranational and transnational structures will have on a country depending on how established the country is as a national state and whether its citizens are patriotic. This effect is bound to be realized, which either can be positive or negative depending on the above-mentioned condition. It is therefore important that countries ensure political and economic independence and patriotism.
Works Cited
Kastoryano, Riva. “Settlement, transnational communities and citizenship.” 2002. Web.
Metcalf, Adam. “Nationalism and the nation-state.” 2003. Web.
Ngoshi, Hazel. “Nationalism or supra-nationalism in the 21st century.” 2008. Web.
Rourke, John. International Politics on the World Stage. New York. McGraw Hill, 2004, Print.