1. International Relations
Introduction to
International Relations
Nationalism, Civilization, and Conflicts
Jaechun Kim

2. Nationalism The difference between “state” and “nation” revisited..
What is nationalism? Definition?
System of belief or ideology in which the welfare of the nation is considered paramount.
Collective state of mind in which people believe their primary duty is to the nation…

3. Implications of Nationalism for IR: Upsides and Downsides
Upside: Provides the cohesiveness necessary for the modern nation state… bonds that hold modern nation states…
Downside: National self-interest often excludes the rights of other nations… can be source of international conflicts...
Nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon  French Revolution
Nationalism became a factor in iR in late 19th century

4. French revolution and nationalism
French Revolution and “popular sovereignty” tapped full blown nationalism in Europe…
Louis the 14th – I am the state! (l’etat, c’est moi!)
No, we people are the state…! (Popular Sovereignty)
Owner of the nation  Love for the nation!
In sum, nationalistic sentiment was unleashed by French Revolution…
After the F R, fervent nationalism started to spread across the Europe…
competing national claims contributed to the outbreak of both World Wars… 

5. Nationalism as a “movement”…
National self-determination became a movement after WWI…
W. Wilson also justified national self-determination in 14 points…
Nationalism and IR
Seeds for both interstate and intrastate conflicts…
Interstate wars because of competing national claims…
Intrastate wars because of “secessionist” movement… e.g. Balkan
No finality in the definition and formation of nations!

6. Culture and Civilization as a Moving Force in International Relations
What is culture? Definition of culture?
The integrated system of socially acquired values, beliefs, and rules of conduct which delimit the range of accepted behaviors in any given society
Culture distinguishes societies from one another…

7. Culture and Nation: How are they different?
Which is a bigger concept?
Culture is not an easy concept to “operationalize” in research
difficult to use it as an analytic tool
multifaceted concept including wide range of phenomena; amorphous concept…
Isolating “culture” is difficult!

8. Definition of civilization
Civilization - culture writ large
The highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity that people have
The broadest construction of cultural identity

9. Eight distinct(?) civilizations (S. Huntington)
Western, Sinic, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American, Buddhist, and African
Predominance of Western culture in modern era…
The significance of culture and civilization in the post-Cold War era (S. Huntington)
The End of History – Francis Fukuyama
The combination of liberal democracy and market-based capitalist economy – Liberalism – had drawn a finishing line in the history of political and social development…
Liberalism is the end product of history… no other alternative!

10. Clash of Civilization – S P Huntington
Ideological struggle may have been over, but civilizational struggle will be on the rise
Cultural differences had been suppressed during the Cold War…
Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 72 No , P

11. Huntington in Detail…
Clash of civilization is a part of historic development
Conflict has been the essence of historical development…
conflict between feudal lords (before Westphalian system)
 conflict between the monarchs (early period of Westphalian system)
 conflict between the nations (WWI and WWII)
 ideological clash (Cold War)
 clash of civilization

12. “the fundamental source of conflict in this new
world will not be primarily ideological or primarily
economic. The great division among humankind
and dominating source of conflict will be
cultural…The fault lines between civilizations will
be the battle lines of the future” S. P. Huntington

13. The rise of civilization clash has coincided with other 4 historical developments. They are:
the relative decline of the West
The rise of the Asian economy and its associated cultural affirmation, with China poised to become the greatest power in history
a population explosion in the Muslim world, and the associated resurgence of Islam
the impact of globalization

14. Globalization and Civilizational Differences
Globalization optimists – similar cultural identity on the rise…! True?
Despite Globalization, local cultures will survive…limited appeal of Western civilization
Because of Globalization, people will be exposed to different cultures and feel alienated…
World is becoming a smaller place, with civilizational consciousness leading to animosity.

15. The hegemony of the Western culture is most contested by Sinic and Islamic cultures
Sinic or Asian culture vs. Western culture?
Islam culture vs. Western culture?

16. Sinic-Islamic connection?
While ideological division of Europe has disappeared the cultural division between Western Christianity and Islam has re-emerged.
“The most prominent form of this co-operation is Confucian-Islamic connection, that has emerged to challenge Western interests, values and powers”
China is rapidly increasing its military spending with modernization of its armed forces. It is purchasing weapons from the former Soviet Union and is also a major exporter of arms and weapon technology..
“A Confucian-Islamic military connection has thus come into being to counter military power of the West.”

17. “In the short term it is clearly in the interests of
the West to promote greater co-operation and
unity within its own civilization particularly
between its European and North American
Components…to limit the expansion of
military strength of Confucian and Islamic
states; to exploit differences and conflicts
among Confucian and Islamic States; to
support other civilizations, groups,
sympathetic to Western values and interests”
- S. P. Huntington

18. Fahreed Zakaria on 911 and Islamic Fundamentalism
Does the nature of international conflict in the post-Cold War conform to Huntington’s thesis?
Fahreed Zakaria on 911 and Islamic Fundamentalism
Why did 911 take place?
Because something’s wrong with them (Islam)…
Paul Johnson – Islam is violent..
Others – not really…
Because something’s wrong with us (the US)…

19. Zakaria finds the answer in the failed statehood of the middle eastern countries… Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan…
Failed statehood combined with huge population growth…