Introduction
A nation refers to a group of people within a country who share a common culture as well as identity. They however lack authority and sovereignty. On the other hand a state is a self ruling political entity which has a government, territory, sovereignty, authority and population, it however lacks shared identity. In the modern times the concept of nation- state has arisen which was brought about by the treaty of Westphalia signed in 1648. A modern- nation state can be identified as an entity consisting of defined territorial boundaries. A modern nation state is recognized as legitimate and it is characterized by self rule and a population (White, 2004). Moreover a modern nation state has a common culture based on a shared culture and this mainly comes from the national culture. Common culture is reliant on a shared history as well as language. For people to co- exist in a given area they ought to share the same language for easy communication in their daily activities. On the other hand shared identity in a modern- nation state national identity refers to the ideological ideals shared by citizens of a given country despite the fact that such a country is made up of different ethnicities.
Nation
Palestine traces it’s origin in modern day Jordan as well as Israel. The period between the sixteenth and twentieth century, had it’s ruler ship under the Ottoman Empire. This empire was however disbanded at the conclusion of the First World War. The heir to this empire was Turkey who moved Palestine to the British Empire command following an agreement namely Lausanne after the First World War. In the early twentieth century, Britain gave a pronouncement for a provision of a place where the Jews would regard as their home in Palestine. Britain allocated almost eighty per cent of Palestine to Transjordan in 1992. The territorial boundary o Jordan includes land in Palestine under the British authorization. It also includes a large population of the Arabs that resided there. This is to say Jordan is the Arab part of Palestine
The population residing in Palestine are regarded as Palestinians and so are the residents of Israel and Jordan. Following the Jewish re- occupation in their historic homeland of Judea as well as Samaria, the fable of an Arab Palestinian nation was formed along with being promoted throughout the world. The Jews originate from Judea as opposed to Palestine. Palestinians are Arabs distinct from the other Arabs throughout the Middle East though the majority of these Arabs in greater Palestine and Israel share the similar norms, tongue and faith.
A large Arab population from this territory moved to Israel, Judea as well as Samaria from the neighbouring Arab countries in the last century. The renaissance of Israel went hand in hand with a flourishing economy in that area. Arabs moved to this region to look for jobs as well as bettering their lives. Historically this region was regarded as sparsely populated. The largest populace in Jerusalem were the Jews and they superseded the Arabs small population. Before the Oslo agreement the main source of livelihood for the Arabs was service in the Israeli quarter. Up to date most Arabs move to Israel through dishonesty for them to become Israel’s citizens (White, 2004).
State
The Kingdom of Asante was established in the 18th century by King Osei Tutu. This kingdom was situated at the deepest part of the forest. It was commanded by the military as well as political dexterity in the direction of European owned castles located at the South as well as the dry lands towards the north. This kingdom formed what is known as present day Ghana. It formed one of the largest states in Ghana and it was very rich in gold and so it could trade with people in need of gold as well as traders from the Songhai Empire (Anglo Gold Ashanti, 2005). The community forming the Asante Kingdom was known as the Akan. Other than trading in gold they also traded in slaves to expand their gold production as well as help clear the forest for agricultural production.
The growth of Asante kingdom led to the adoption of an administrative system that was well developed politically, socially and economically. During the 19th century it faced opposition from the British where it was captured in 1873 and it became a British protectorate where it became part of present day Ghana (Anglo Gold Ashanti, 2005).
Nation – State – Egypt
The population of Egypt is 99% ethnic with the other part constituting of a small number of detached ethnic minorities. The modern Egypt identity is related to its history and geography and has developed over time amidst difficulties due to the rising contradictory ideology. Currently it is an Arabic speaking nation and this makes it part of Egypt’s culture and distinctiveness. Presently, Egypt views themselves as one people through their culture, history and language their variation of Arabic language does not make them feel Arabic but as Egyptians (White, 2004).
United States as a modern nation- State
The nation- states like the US have important functions to perform. These include to organize and to regulate economic, political, and cultural- norms.
Fixed territory
Here we find that the US fosters its fixed territory by protecting it’s boundaries from interference through illegal immigration or through possession by another country and claiming to be its own. As a superpower and therefore hegemony, the US considerably interferes with borders of other countries through political and military actions giving the country a face of an empire though not like the traditional empire. These actions by the us makes it assert itself a powerful country and hence no country should mess with it as it is a sovereign state that governs itself and can interfere with other countries politics ( White, 2004). Common- culture in the US has been fostered through national holidays, unique American sports, art, military tradition and national pride amongst the US populace.
Shared identity
It is not inclusive of citizens that do not fit the ideological model. Majority of the modern nation states have their population composed of diverse ethnic groups, religions as well as different outlook. In America however this is problematic to the national ideology. America’s national anthem claims that the US is a free country. However some scholars argue that America is not always a free country. This is seen in the fact that in the year 1831 when Smith (1984) that America was a free country, majority of the Americans were in oppression.
On the other hand the fact that America’s history makes a section of the American society to question themselves in matters pertaining to freedom. In this case they always question themselves on the truthfulness of the existence of freedom in America as the African- American community in America do not feel free. Also the English settler legacy has normalized the English legacy as a territory worth being proud of. However most Americans are not of the same view as they do not share a common ancestry where some Americans migrated from various parts of the world.
In order to enhance unity in America, which is a pluralistic society, there are various steps that have been carried out to foster the various attributes forming a modern- nation state. It is common practice for all American school going children to be taught the Pledge of Allegiance. Various national songs are also taught to these children. For example songs like “America the Beautiful” plus “America” in addition they also learn the official national anthem. The importance of promoting patriotism in the early years of an American ensures that the significance of American identity is accepted by the diverse American society. Language also plays a key part in fostering the attributes of modern- nation state in America. In this case America is widely known as a pluralistic society and therefore in order to promote unity in such a country there is need for the utilization of one language. The language fostering the attributes of a modern- nation state is English which America’s official language is.
Foreign policy objectives in USA
Foreign policy in the US is the vehicle through which the US government relates with the other foreign nations by setting necessary standards for organizational and individual relations. The final authority on US foreign policy lies with the president however an appointment is made of a foreign minister to oversee the state- to state diplomacy (White, 2004). The main aim of US foreign policy is to make a safe, autonomous, and successful world to benefit the Americans and the global society. Also it ensures control of exports, which includes non-proliferation of nuclear technology and hardware; method to promote industrial contact with overseas nations and protect American interests.
History of the European Union
The EU was formed after the Second World War to implement human rights during this period and has no armed forces as the efforts to create one has never been successive as it is was the case with the European Defence Community in the 1950s. The EU has its origin in1948 through the Brussels Treaty (White, 2004) which was followed by the signing of the Paris Treaty on July 23, 1952 and later modified at Brussels. In 1958 the Treaty of Rome was enacted by Germany, France, Luxembourg, Holland, Italy and Belgium and later followed by the 1967 Treaty by the European Community. The Treaty of Maastricht was formed on November 1, 1993 followed by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997, the Nice Treaty and finally the basis of the EU’s constitution which was formed in December 1, 2009. As more treaties were signed more countries started joining it.
Countries forming the European Union
Europe is made up of forty eight countries and most of this countries form the EU, some are still aspirant countries while a small number of the countries have not yet joined the European Union. European Union is made up of twenty seven countries. Other than the forming member countries namely: Germany, France, Luxembourg, Holland, Italy and Belgium, there are other countries which form the European Union namely Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus which is part of Greece, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (White, 2004).
In order for a country to join the EU it has to fulfil the standard set in Copenhagen in the Copenhagen European Council. They are also required to have an established democratic system that promotes human rights as well as the rule of law. It also has to have a market economy that is functioning well and able to compete well in the EU. The EU members are also expected to fulfil the EU membership as well as the law. The European Council is in charge of ensuring that the EU members fulfil the membership requirements (White, 2004). Other than Greenland which pulled out from the EU in 1985, none of the EU member states pulled out from the EU. The Lisbon treaty caters for this issue to govern how a country withdraws from the EU.
There are several countries that have been considered as nominee countries to join the EU and they include Iceland, Croatia, Turkey, Macedonia, Bosnia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia as well as Herzegovina. Kosovo is also a possible nominee however, it has it is not regarded as an independent state detached from Serbia. Some countries have made a choice not to join the EU but have however made a commitment towards the EU economy and rules: Norway and Liechtenstein forms the single market through it’s association with the European Economic Area. Switzerland also forms part of the single market through bilateral treaties. Other small European states that do not form thee EU make use of the euro as well as cooperating in other areas. These states include Monaco, San Marino, Andorra as well as the Vatican (White, 2004).
Major institutions in the EU
EU is an intergovernmental body that is used by the members to meet their own goals. The goals are based on priority given to the consent of member states through their signature on treaties, as opposed to the activities of the EU machinery of governance, and putting into consideration Council of Ministers as being important as opposed to other European Union bodies (White, 2004). These bodies include European Commission whose main function was to maintain the interests of the organisation in its entirety while the European Parliament on the other hand represented the EU’S citizens. Lastly, was the formation of the EU council whose main function was to stand for individual member states who included Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy.
Modern function of the European Union
EU is the key trading bloc and as it commands respect from other countries for its activities represents the interests of all member states in world trade discussions (White, 2004). It presents a significant set of economic interests, as well as a particular stance on a wide range of associated issues, for example, food safety. In most cases the EU is threatened by reprisals from the USA as with the current contention over bananas and GM foods. The EU banned the British beef exports during the BSE crisis as it also participates in discussing, and implementing human rights for the member countries.
The foreign policy objectives for the European Union
The first aim of EU’s foreign policy is to defend the ordinary principles, basic welfare and autonomy of the amalgamation. These principles are laid down in Article 6.1 of the ordinary necessities which affirms their being partisan to the values of democracy, liberty, rule of law, respect for fundamental principles and laws (White, 2004). The other objective or EU’s foreign policy is respect for human rights as one of the requirements to be a member of the EU and this acts as a main value guiding all their actions. This common aim mainly stressed in the expansion of collaboration policy which should add to it (Article 177.2).
Transnational entities and nation state foreign policy
The EU is not just an intergovernmental body but it has authority in significant areas, and also consistency with institutions like European Court of Justice, European Commission and European Parliament. It has laws which take precedence over the laws of member states in areas that are within its sphere of activity or legal authority in order to engage in foreign policy to achieve their interests. The EU has absolute power over certain and settled series of arena whereby of utmost importance is the Single European Market in goods, services and labour (White, 2004). These powers cover a wide range of legal activities for instance; the EU undertook a lawful act in opposition to member states that didn’t implement its directives on equal opportunities in the 1970s and 1980s. A number of states were taken to court by the European Commission to the European Court of Justice and a legal battle was won that pushed the defeated member states towards making appropriate changes to their home legislation. Another way of the EU using foreign policy to achieve its interests is to allow individual citizens to appeal directly to EU law above the head of their state governments. Nation – states in the other hand enact laws that enable them to achieve their foreign policy. This is whereby a foreign minister is appointed to formulate and implement the already existing foreign policy as the president gives accent to the proposed foreign policy (White, 2004).
Conclusion
Due to interaction of transnational entities with nation-states, there is an occurrence of various implications. Transnational’s interaction could lead to loss of sovereignty since there maybe a transnational that want to impose its values on its member states who might not share the same values as the said transnational. Through transnational’s there has been increased globalization whereby issues being covered are wide and as such the world has to interact as one body through advanced technology like faxes, internet and also phones. Also economic development occurs beyond borders and thus leading to economic development in some regional areas while other areas remain underdeveloped.
Transnational entities like the EU always promote the interests of their member states in terms of trade policies which favour their members. This mainly takes place mainly in the course of trade activities with EU member states. Also EU defends sits member countries political stance so long as it does not violate human rights.
References
Anglo- Gold Ashanti (2005). History of the Asante (Ashanti) People, Web.
Smith, A. D. (1984). ‘National identity and myths of ethnic descent’, Research in Social Movements, Conflict Change, vol. 7, pp. 95-130
White, G. (2004). Nation, state, and territory: origins, evolutions, and relationships, New York: Rowman & Littlefields.