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.