Nationalism Lecture 13: Beyond nationalism? Pan-Nationalism and Fundamentalism Prof. Lars-Erik Cederman Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Center for Comparative and International Studies (CIS) Seilergraben 49, Room G.2 Assistant: Kimberly Sims, CIS, Room E 3,

Outline Pan-nationalism Historical examples Civilizations Implications for the “war on terrorism”

Pan-Nationalism Pan-nationalism aggregates many related ethnic identities into one over-arching macro- identity with the aim of promoting interstate cooperation or political unification Does not always imply unification Main basis is a cultural political project Builds on or opposes lower-level nationalism Expansionist temptations

Pan-nationalism Common state? Common nation? No Yes No Yes Phase I: Nation- formation Division or unification? Phase II: Pan-Nationalist foreign-policy coordination

Historical examples Pan-Europeanism Pan-Slavism Pan-Germanism Pan-Turkism Pan-Africanism Pan-Arabism

Pan-Africanism (see Breuilly) Started in British West Africa by a tiny minority “Golden age” in 1950s Leader Nkrumah (Ghana) 1963 Organization of African Unity Support for unification fizzles, in spite of a strong ideological program Kwame Nkruhmah

Pan-Arabism (see Barnett, Breuilly) Historical origins: Christians in Lebanon, anti-Ottoman opposition More powerful than other pan- nationalist movements – Cultural cohesion? Language and religion? – Anti-imperialism – Anti-Zionism – Leadership: Nasser The Arab League, founded in 1944 Gamal Abd al-Nasser

Pan-Arabism (continued) United Arab Republic in 1958 but collapses in 1961 Divisions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia Military failure and partial peace with Israel => Sadat returns to Egyptian nationalism First Gulf War leads to more division Failure of pan-Arabism opens the door for Islamism Anwar As-Sadat ( )

Huntington’s civilizations A civilization is “the highest cultural grouping of people” Combination of objective elements and self-definition; religion crucial! According to Huntington, there are 7 or 8 major civilizations: – Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin-American, and possibly African Samuel Huntington

Huntington’s civilizational map

Huntington cont’d Civilizational differences engender conflict – Differences are “real” and “basic” – Local identities threatened – West at the peak of its power – Entropy of cultural traits Consequences: – Fault lines – Civilizational rallying – The West against the Rest – Torn countries

Critique Definitions: – inconsistent traits: role of religion? internal differences... – self-definition? African civilization? – ignores exchanges Role of states Overly pessimistic about conflict Self-fulfilling prophecy

Islamist Fundamentalism Islamist fundamentalism seeks to recapture and apply the fundamentals of Islam in the contemporary world (Barth) Political agenda: not in terms of states but – spiritual community: “ummah” – reaction to secular Arab regimes – reaction to Israel and the West – violence: “Jihad” Fredrik Barth

Defining terrorism Terrorism is the “deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change” (Bruce Hoffmann, Inside Terrorism) Psychological phenomenon “Political change” can be, but does not have to be, about nationalism Asymmetric conflict: “weapon of the weak”

Three waves of terrorism in the Middle East Religion dominant until 19th century Wave 1: Post-colonial liberation: – Irgun and Stern Gang fight both Arabs and British – Model for post-colonial movements Wave 2: Internationalization: – PLO – Model for terrorist movements Wave 3: New religious terrorism: – Iranian Revolution in 1979 – Hezbollah, Hamas, Al Qaeda Menachem Begin ( ) Yasser Arafat ( )

Implications for the war on terrorism Need to attack root causes State-led terror also major problem Danger of clash of civilizations – risk of anti-Western mobilization – resist vilification of Islam – against fundamentalism at home and abroad – problems of nation-building