The Nationalism Debate: Past and Present

Abstract

The nation states have emerged and been shaped through an evolutionary process. The major factors triggering their emergence have been rise of capitalism, breakdown of empires, independence of colonial territories and, in recent years, the disintegration of large federal states. The character and the authority of nation states have been shaped initially by the interstate system of the Treaty of Westphalia and largely by the French Revolution and the United Nations (UN) Charter, rise of regionalism and globalisation. Nationalism continues to thrive and remain dominant all over the world mainly because its possible substitutes such as global capitalism, socialist internationalism and UN multilateralism did not prove viable. The major challenges the nation states face today are coping with new problems arising within their territories and those which affect the very survival of mankind. The Indian nationalism embraces the entire variety of elements which go into the making of a nation state. It has been a subject of bitter controversy starting from India’s independence movement. To be true to its ethos reflected in the Indian Constitution, it must remain pluralistic, inclusive and humanitarian.