The characteristics of a modern nation-state
Before we discuss the characteristics depicted by the modern nation state we would first look at what is meant by nation, state and nation-state. A nation is defined as an entity demarcated by a similar culture or occupied by a people of the same ethnic group but not sovereign and do not exercise any authority over itself or others. The state on the other hand is an entity with both geographical and political boundary has a population which occupies it and has the capability of interacting with other states. The state has both independence and power but often do not have cohesiveness to put the people under one rule.
Hence nation-state implies the combination of the two. It is a political entity that occupies a clear geographical space and governed as an independent territory by drawing its power and legal status from the political supremacy. The modern nation-state means one or more nations affiliating together politically and socially. They agree to use a single language for communication, a single currency and use similar governments.
The first characteristic is that a nation state is not movable or replaceable per se. This means that that one state cannot be substituted by another one because of the immobility of the geographical space that it occupies. Secondly, a nation-state ensures that the state unifies the nation. This means that the economy, culture and social life are controlled. It ensures that there is infrastructure (roads, electricity and water distribution system) and institutions (schools, administration and judiciary) are in place to enable a harmonious co-existence between the members of that society (Zürn & Joerges, 2005).
They have a more organized centre of power and an elaborate and organized administration which often form a bureaucracy. The nation state also has its own cultural identity throughout its territory. More often there is a national conscience of a uniform national culture to which the administration also promotes so as to differentiate itself from other nation-states. Culture is largely promoted by language and education, which is compulsory up to a state-set level, and sometimes religion.
A good example of a nation is the Palestinian territory. The Palestine is dominantly composed of Arabs occupying the unstable Strip of Gaza, the West Bank and a part Israel. They language is Arabic; they share a prominent culture and a single overriding identity. But the main observable aspect is that this territory lacks independence and does not exercise power over itself or others(Voss & Bauknecht, 2006).
An example of a state is Kenya. Kenya was colonized by Britain and it got attained independence in 1963 and became a republic in 1964. Kenya has 42 ethnic groups. Each group has its own culture, language, occupy the same geographical area except for those in major towns and sometimes share the same religion. Kenya is a constitutionally independent and derives its political supremacy from the people.
The national languages are English and Kiswahili the former being dominantly used by the people. But there is no harmony between the ethnic groups, for instance during and after general elections there erupt fights pitting one group against the other. After the 2007 elections the Kalenjin and Kikuyu ethnic groups fought over the disputed results. Therefore in summary Kenya is sovereign and has a government but there is a missing element of cohesion among the ethnic groups.
Example of a nation state is Egypt. 99 percent of the population is entirely ethnic Egyptian with the remaining being marginalized groups and foreigners. Egypt is largely regarded as a historical nation spanning many centuries. It has its own geographical boundary and exercises its own independent government. Egyptians talk Arabic that is largely ingrained with Egyptian identity.
United States criteria and functions on modern nation-state
How the United States fits the criteria of and functions as a modern nation-state.
First the United States is independent, it governs itself. It covers most of North America and therefore it is geographically defined and cannot be swapped with another state or nation. It therefore occupies a fixed territory. Secondly, it has its own political and social system. It received its independence from the United Kingdom in 1776. It runs its federal and state governments. The federal government covers all the states while the state government manages the affairs of a single state for example California. Therefore it is sovereign, a criteria which defines a nation-state.
On the criteria of a shared culture, language comes out as the main aspect. English is the main language used in official communication throughout the US although there are other languages spoken by immigrant and foreigners. The dominant culture is largely American or Western.
The people of America regard themselves as American. There are Native Americans, African Americans, Indian Americans and even Latinos tag themselves as American. The economy and infrastructure is run and maintained by the central government. So is education. The population is mostly American but there are non-Americans too. Therefore it can be concluded that the shared culture is American. In summary, regarding sovereignty, the United States is governed by a constitution. It has its own legal system and proclaims independence. Its territory is fixed and the borders are manned both by the police and the army. The shared culture by virtue of language is English and the common culture is American.
The United States derives its political supremacy constitutionally and the political governance is democratic. The US has its borders defined and manned by both the military and the police. It exercises its power over the citizens and can defend itself from invasions from outside. It has military superiority therefore cannot be colonized from outside its borders. There is a common acceptance that the American society is diversified, in the sense that all the ethnic and racial groups collectively make up the larger American culture and the differences are not easily noticeable. The American society share several national cohesive observations like public holidays, flags and even modes of dressing.
Foreign policy objectives for the United States
Constitutionally the president is empowered to make treaties with other nations subject to the approval of the senate. He also appoints envoys to other countries as well as receiving those from other countries. The president is also the commander in chief which means that he controls the way the United States interact with the rest of the world. An example is the Afghanistan-Pakistan foreign policy which under the Obama administration, the US seeks to ensure that Al Qaeda terrorists and their entire network are completely eliminated in both countries. There is need also for Afghanistan-Pakistan to be assisted to overcome the terrorism and other insurgent groups in the region and the entire world. The international community also should be involved in the stabilization of the Pakistan.
Under this policy the US intends to help both nations in delimiting the capacity of terrorists to launch any international attacks from there. It also has a role in ensuring that there is a proper constitutional order in both countries by working closely with the governments and citizens. The international community is also requested for help in making Pakistan a stable nation. Another example is the US foreign in the Middle East which was supposed to make sure that oil was available at minimal costs and adequately. Oil is a major energy component in any economy (Stark, 2003).
European Union as a transnational entity
The European Union or the EU is a conglomerate of 27 nations mostly in Europe. They came together by signing several pacts to foster their social, economic and political interest between themselves and the rest of the world. In the 1940s the cooperation among the European countries was only through country and dynasty level associations. But the Second World War brought with it many challenges that nations in Europe saw the need for a more formal cooperation to mitigate the economic and social losses as well as ensuring that no war in the future occurs. By then the only powerful nation was Germany. France then suggested a union that would combine both the coal and steel industries of Europe because the two were necessary in production of weaponry (Morrison, 2006).
The Paris Treaty of 1951 which Luxembourg, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and Netherlands appended their signatures created a union which was specifically interested on steel and coal. However in 1955, a referendum to create a European territory was defeated. The Rome treaties signed in 1957 by several governments saw the creation of Economic Community of Europe and the community which dealt with atomic source of energy. There were several negotiations, conferences, sittings, pacts and treaties being signed and pull outs by some member states up to 1993. Several other members had joined. On 1st November, 1993 in Lisbon the European Union was officially and legally formed with 27 members in total agreeing to a common protocol and agreement.
The major institutions and nations
The European Union consists of the following nations: Northern Ireland, Portugal, Poland, Netherlands, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Malta, Greece, Finland, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Romania, United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Latvia, Ireland, Italy, Estonia, Hungary, France, Bulgaria, Belgium, Czech Republic and Lithuania.
It has the following institutions: The European Parliament, European Commission service, European Science Commission, European Political Cooperation (EPC), Court of Justice of the European Communities, European Court of Auditors, European Central Bank, European Ombudsman, European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund among others.
The contemporary functions of the European Union
There are several functions of the EU that are carried out independently by its various bodies. The most important one is decision making that it does on behalf of the members on matters of common interest. The union also formulates laws and ensures that the members implement them. For example the parliament represents the citizens of the EU country citizens which elect them while the European commission represents the interests of the union collectively. The European Central Bank takes care of the regions economic policies while the European Investment bank handles projects that the EU funds as well as supporting small businesses (Cateora & Graham, 2007).
Examples of foreign policy objectives for the European Union
One is the Financial Policy in which The EU teams up with the International monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure that projects supporting the health standards in Sub- Saharan Africa. Ambassadors and other representatives are sent to the region to run agencies that handle issues of Malaria and HIV/AIDS. Another foreign policy for the EU is to promote human rights in Africa. There have been serious concerns about human rights violations in Africa. The EU supports and funds the highest human rights court at the Hague in Netherlands in arresting and apprehending violators.
United States and the European Union
The EU engages in foreign policy by using its many bodies to bargain trade terms with the rest of the world, ensure the security of the region and to foster developments in the region. It signs treaties and pacts with other nations on global issues like terrorism, climate change, international trade and international food security. For example the EU stand on the recent election in Sudan is that it never met international standards and therefore did not support the outcome.
The US on the other hand uses its foreign policy in defending its territory from external invasion and that if its allies when called upon. This is evidenced by the establishment of US naval and army bases throughout the world. For example there is strong military presence in Cuba, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. The recent US foreign policy on Iran is of nuclear disarmament in which the US wants Tehran to shelve its nuclear ambitions because the US believes that Tehran is going to build nuclear weapons and not use the program to increase energy supply. The US has rallied the rest of the world and in particular the EU in stopping Tehran from engaging herself in unsupervised nuclear enrichment activities.
This way the US seeks to save not only itself but its allies from a nuclear attack. The US foreign policy also seeks to protect the business concerns of the public and the lives of its nationals in other nations (Himes & Modern, 2005). This has been shown by the establishment of its consulates and embassies in many countries to take care of the US citizens, properties and businesses.
Analysis of the consequences
At the international arena, interstate and transnational unions use their majority to vote on major global issues like the recent financial crisis, the global warming debate and the nuclear disarmament program. They make their stand known on the issues of the day. They also supervise and sometime threaten other nations which promote dangerous agendas like terrorism. It is also used to stabilize the global economy.
Such actions by both the EU and the US have had many effects on international politics. During the climate talks in Copenhagen no final decisions were made to further the ratification of the Kyoto protocol the main reason being that the transnational unions like the EU, The African Union and the wider Asian-Pacific countries took different positions.
International politics have also been affected by such unions as what regards a pure democracy being upheld by the whole world. There is a common feeling that the democracy is the best and better system of governance. These unions and interstate alliances seek to promote this view. For example one of the main reasons why the US invaded Iraq was that it was dictatorial. The rights of the minority Kurdish community were being violated under Saddam Husseins regime. This has completely changed the political system in Iraq and recently elections were held for the first time in many years. So the US and the EU has succeeded in installing democracy in Iraq.
References
Cateora, P.R. & Graham, J.L. (2007). International marketing. 13th ed. New Jersey: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Himes, K.R. & Modern Cahill, L.S. (2005). Catholic social teaching: commentaries and interpretations. Washington: Georgetown University Press.
Morrison, K. (2006). Marx, Durkheim, Weber: formations of modern social thought. 2nd ed. Canada: SAGE.
Stark, W. (2003). The history of economics in its relation to social development. London: Routledge.
Voss, J. & Bauknecht, D. (2006). Reflexive governance for sustainable development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Zürn, M. & Joerges, C. (2005). Law and governance in postnational Europe: compliance beyond the nation-state. New York: Cambridge University Press.