MARK STAHLHUTH

The Rise of Nationalism

(Cuban flag)

Nationalism is an idea that has been an interesting topic to look at because of the growth of nationalism in the recent decade.  To understand it fully we must first look at what Nationalism is, and why it is growing.

My understanding of nationalism is that it is people having a large sense of pride for their county and their culture.  Furthermore, it is the process of one nation sharing its culture with the rest of the world, often times in a very ethnocentric manner.

Zakaria thinks that the rise of nationalism is especially dangerous because it makes it harder for countries to work with each other.  Cuba is a prime example of how nationalism can be a threat to a country’s livelihood.  Cuba has dealt with the United States’ nationalism for over fifty years!  Americans being incredibly patriotic have still not lifted the trade embargo with Cuba.  As of 2011, Cuba has estimated that there has been an economic loss of over 1 trillion dollars!  Who would have thought nationalism could be so expensive?

I personally do not view nationalism as a problem; instead I see it as an opportunity for citizens to come together.  Yes, people will always have pride in their country, but that certainly should not be viewed as dangerous.  It’s very comparable to American sports teams.  As a Mizzou student I don’t like Kansas, particularly I hate Kansas.  Their blue and red colors are one of the hardest things for me to have to look at, but at the end of the day we all live in the US and we can separate our differences for a greater purpose.  The same holds true for other countries and nationalism.  If something really bad is going on in the world, it is possible for two countries to separate their differences and come together to resolve the conflict peacefully.  It doesn’t matter how much pride is on the line, I have faith that the leaders of the world will do what is right.

(Ibelsi Rodriguez carries water at her Cuban home)

Unfortunately inequality is very prevalent in Cuban society. On the ground in Cuba the people are very poor, many of them living in poverty.  The divide between the rich and the poor is growing at an alarming rate, as the Cuban economy grows stronger.  The United States offers up remittances to Cuban citizens but mostly they are given to whites.  Randal Archibold of the New York Times wrote, “But some will enjoy that support more than others. Cuban economists say that whites are 2.5 times more likely than blacks to receive remittances, leaving many in crumbling neighborhoods like Little Swamp nearly invisible in the rise of commerce, especially the restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts that tourists tend to favor.” (Archibold, Web)

The inequality and racial suppression has put many Cuban people in poverty, living in extreme conditions. The state has a food stamp program that is barely enough food to last the entire month.  The people have no money and without any foreign support are left with no answers. 

Entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the economy strengthening, but unfortunately the elite class controls the majority of the money.  It is one more thing that the United States should think about as they continue to push to end the embargo.  So what do you think?  Should we lift an embargo on a country with many of their citizens living in poverty?  These are all pressing questions that need to be answered.  It is clearly a problem for the Cuban people, and its hard to see so many people so helpless.  It is also frustrating that many of us are unaware of the issue.  To learn more, visit my sources listed below.

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/cuban-embargo-questions-answers/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/world/americas/as-cuba-shifts-toward-capitalism-inequality-grows-more-visible.html

KEELY LI

Nationalism and Inequality

Nationalism is what every country basically contains. It defines as a strong belief and feeling that mainly in the significance of a geographical and demographic region with a shared group. Briefly it’s a group seeking independence for its culture or its ethnicity that have same belief and feeling to keep staying together. In other words, nationalism could be a collective state of mind and consciousness, in which people believe their duty and loyalty. Nationalism can be viewed as two perspectives, which are political prospective and sociological perspective.

Unlike other countries in Central America, Costa Rica stands out mainly for its emphasis on education, conversation and social welfare but not war or revolution. Some articles and news states that Costa Rica has been the most peaceful country in Central America. Costa Rica became a completely independent state in 1848, and that is Costa Rica’s political prospective of nationalism.

(map of Costa Rica)

According to the research on costarica-information.com, “Costa Ricans also like to emphasize that they are different by pointing out their country's high levels of education and health, its renowned national parks, and its history of democracy and political stability.” It’s the state of their minds and consciousness in Costa Rica. As I discussed above, Costa Rica has been the most peaceful country in Central America. People in Costa Rica would not have too many fights or argument about their identities. They like their identity. Costa Ricans are pride on themselves on being distinctive. Sometimes they would feel superior to other in the region.

To talk about Costa Ricans unique look, even though they’re peaceful, they still have social status on their identities. That’s what sociological perspectives work in nationalism in Costa Rica. “They are a mix of different races. Most Costa Rican’s consider themselves to be white. Being white is very important to Costa Rican sense of national identity since being white is considered to be of higher status. Many of them look very Spanish or European in coloring, yet are shorter in stature like many indigenous people.” Even in Central America, being white is considered a higher status just as the United States. It represents the importance of the race in every country in the world.

Zakaria saw danger in the rise of nationalism because the strength of the nationalism would improve each country’s individual, which will make harder to collaborate with other countries.  According to the book, “the nation-state is a relatively new invention, often no more than a hundred years old. Much older are the religious, ethnic, and linguistic groups that live within nation-states.” Costa Rica is an example because people are groups that focus much on religious, ethnic and linguistic.

(partnership with China)

Even though Costa Rica has been the most peaceful country in Central America, there still would be some inequality problems in the society, especially the poverty problem. Poverty problem could represent the economic problem in Costa Rica. As we know, Costa Rica is a developing country, but not develop as quickly as other country such as China. Refer to the reading Broken BRICS, “the primary engines behind this phenomenon were the four major emerging-market countries, known as the BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India and China. Costa Rica has a strong partnership with China, which is a very important element to help improve economy. China as an emerging-market country that could help Costa Rica reduce the inequality poverty problem. According to the research online, income inequality is one of the main elements to lead the problem about poverty inequality. According to the New York Times, “So why has Costa Rica been unable to lower its poverty rate despite healthy growth rates? Because its economic model is still in significant ways based on a mercantilist system that is biased toward certain favored sectors of the economy at the expense of the poor.” That might be a main reason for Costa Rica failing to lower its poverty rate and the reason for the inequality problem exists.

Chuqi Li

Sources: 

Broken BRICs

Zakaria

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/opinion/costa-ricas-wrong-turn.html?_r=0

http://costarica-information.com/about-costa-rica/people-culture-religion/culture/national-identity

AUDREY ANDERSON

Colombia vs. Guerilla Groups 

Nationalism is having a strong belief that the nation-state interests are more important than other countries' interests. Colombia's long time history with violence and drugs has only discouraged the realm of nationalism for the country.  Going back to 1966, Columbia has been having issues with guerrilla groups. The most powerful and well known guerrilla group that contains the strongest presence in Colombia is the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). 

This guerrilla group "takes in between $500 million and $600 million annually from illegal drug trade." The FARC group largely controls the  drug scene, which makes it problematic for Colombia to control and fight them. 

The violence from these guerrilla groups results in inequality among the land for the Colombian people. Rural inequality is greatly influenced by gorilla groups because these groups go into land and drive out the citizens. This leads to the citizens running for safety to another city or even another country. In addition, Colombia uses tax incentives and government subsidies to help the higher class keep their land even if they don't use the land for the best use. This combination of problems leads to the rich able to keep their land and the poor loosing their land through lack of funds or lack of security. 

This is just a small example of the damage that guerrilla groups cause to countries and citizens. 

The Colombian citizens are tired of guerrilla groups coming in and taking their land, money, and citizen rights. The Colombia government is trying to create solutions through peace efforts but with FARC and other guerrilla groups controlling money through the drug business, it's a hard and long process that sometimes might seem inevitable. 

AMY NOVOTNY

(This picture demonstrates that the root of separation between countries and ethnicities is nationalism.)

Nationalism is defined as “a patriotic feeling, principles, or efforts”. Many countries in today’s world have a strong sense of nationalism, and there are also many that have very little nationalism. I studied abroad in Brussels this summer and they had “Belgium National Day” and our whole group went to the local grocery store and bought beers and Belgian flags thinking it’d be very similar to a Fourth of July type of deal. It wasn’t. Since we studied abroad in the summer we missed our own home country’s celebration so we went all out for Belgium. The twenty of us Americans we’re more excited than anyone else we saw. Brussels attracts many businessmen and women, especially with the EU being located right there. People from all over Europe move to Brussels for work, so it makes sense that on Belgium National Day no one really was super excited because most of the people aren’t originally from Belgium.

The Dominican Republic has had many issues with Haiti throughout history. In 2013, they passed a law that would deny Dominican citizenship to anyone born after 1929 without one parent of Dominican descent. If one does not fall in this category he/she is technically not a legal citizen, leaving many homeless. As scary as this may be for some, I think it shows some sense of nationalism. It also shows they don’t get along well with Haiti but I think it also proves that they want what’s best for their country and are trying to keep tabs on their country. This also is a perfect example of conflict between state because although different countries, they coexist on the island of Hispaniola. When France and Spain were fighting for control of Hispaniola in the 17^th century, they settled it by splitting the island in two in 1697, causing the start of an ongoing political division.

Zakaria relates the idea of the rise of nationalism to assertion of identity. Zakaria says, “What is happening on the global stage-the rise of identity in the midst of economic growth- is also happening on the local stage. The bottom line: it makes purposeful national action far more difficult.” (Zakaria, pg41) When big national superpowers are trying to all come to a conclusion, it will be increasingly more difficult when countries nationalism is high. Zakaria says that these important decisions will be hard to settle when countries believe they are more powerful than the other.

Zakaria mentions that the core identities (religion, ethnic and linguistic) that have existed for so long are the defining features of life and have grown as economic interdependence has deepened. I thought it was interesting when Sharma in his article, Broken BRICs, said, “The implications of this shift are striking, because economic momentum is power, and thus the flow of money to rising stars will reshape the global balance of power.” (Sharma, pg3) I agree that economic momentum is power, because everyone knows that a good economy means so much in today’s day and age. It shows a sign of stability and control.

                   (This chart shows different types of inequality in the Dominican Republic)

Inequality is a problem in the Dominican Republic. In an article from July 2014, it says that although the economy has grown steadily at a rate of 5.4%, poverty levels still remain high. “The report pains a picture of a country in which the poor remain poor, trapped in their situation with little chance of escaping.” Although these statistics are sad, it seems that leaders are trying to change it. The article said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated “If inequalities continue to widen, development may not be sustainable” and that “equity is emerging as a central plank in discussions on the post- 2015 development agenda.” I think it is good that this is looked at as a big issue because it is true that if there is that great of inequality, a country cannot grow and develop as it should.

Nationalism; Inequality in Guatemala

Nationalism is the strong belief that the interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance. Also, it is the belief that a people who share a common language, history, and culture should constitute an independent nation, free of foreign domination. The rise of nationalism is the pride and confidence among other nations, particularly the largest and most successful ones, is readily apparent.

Credit: www.operationworld.org

When Zakaria talks about the rise of nationalism, he is describing about a broader phenomenon, which is the assertion of identity. The danger he sees in the rise of nationalism is that it makes purposeful national action far more difficult. 

According to Zakaria, the nation-state is a relatively new invention, as opposed to the older aspects such as the religious, ethnic, and linguistic groups that live within nation-states. For instance, national parties are losing ground to regional once in India. Or in Kenya, tribal distinctions are becoming more important. In Europe, the Flemish and French in Belgium remain as distinct as ever. In Britain, the Scots have elected a ruling party that proposes ending the three hundred years old Acts if Union that created the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, and Wales. (Zakaria, 41)

Inequality is quite a serious problem in my region, Guatemala. According to data, Guatemala is ranked with the second highest inequality rate in Latin America, (Gini coefficient of 0.55), many disparities exist between different economic sectors and income groups, reflecting large rich-poor divide in. Income inequality in Guatemala is accentuated by regional differences: a large rural agrarian sector and social exclusion.

Moreover, according to Local development through microfinance tools in Central America by Woodworth and Hiatt, subsistence agriculture made the inequality situation worse and it resulted in low productivity and value-addedness. As a result, meager incomes push subsistence farmers into poverty. 

According to the World Bank, poverty in Guatemala is both widespread and severe. Approximately 75 percent of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line, which is defined as an income that is insufficient to purchase a basic basket of goods and services. Almost 58 percent of the populations have incomes below the extreme poverty line, which is defined as the amount needed to purchase a basic basket of food.

Credit: businessinsider.com

The inequality in Guatemala has resulted in the rural-urban dichotomy in living standards. Since Agriculture is one of the primary sectors in Guatemala, producing principal cash crops such as coffee, sugars and bananas. Together with other non-agricultural products, they contribute towards 75 percent of export earnings, according to research done by United Nations Development Programme. The agricultural sector employs about 39 percent of the national workforce, resulting in suppressed wages and low productivity.

Credit: www.occupy.com

Even though, according to data and research, the inequality situation has improved the past few years, the ones who were benefitted from the improvement were not the poor, but instead the middle class. The improvement of inequality actually benefited individuals in the middle range of the welfare distribution.

I think that inequality is a problem anywhere in the world. Especially in regions that are developing fast, such as China, poverty seemed to be more serious as the poor could not catch up with the advance of economic aspect. For instance, is also a serious gap the rural-urban income inequality, just as it is in Guatemala.