Nationalism Vs Internationalism

Nationalism value has been taught to us since in the primary education level, and nationalism is main reason why a state can be independence, because without it in our people how come state is being a state? That is also what make nationalism important. But then again how about internationalism? In this 21^st century Internationalism is commonly for the people worldwide. When lot of cases happen in another part of world and because of globalization era any information can be found very fast and easy, when the state cannot survive alone then forming alliances, when the states built United Nations (UN) to maintain international matter like International Law, and built international organization such as World Health Organization (WHO) for welfare,
So what is actually Nationalism and Internationalism? Which one more important?

What is Nationalism and Internationalism?

In the Speech of President Soekarno the founding father of Indonesia he said that,

”Internationalism cannot fertile if there is no Nationalism, Nationalism cannot flower if it does not grow in the garden of internationalism” (Soekarno)
 

From that speech it is impossible to separate Nationalism and Internationalism because both of it need each other. It is impossible internationalism be there if there is no nationalism to begin with, and also nationalism to survive it is need internationalism as the arena or place to exist, why? The one basic internationalism is nationalism that has larger scale through world and also it is contain nationalism from many countries like internationalism as competition arena and nationalism as the participant.

Nationalism is ism or belief that tried to protect the sovereignty of a state, those people that held this nationalism are called nationalist. Nationalist will more concerned about issues that can break the sovereignty of the state even small issue. State cannot survive without nationalism belief in their people, mostly nationalism is appear because of common goal in people like Indonesia that being colonialize by Dutch and then the Soekarno and his allies struggle to get independence and that independence must have common goal like to increase welfare of people in Indonesia or to freed people from Dutch colonialize to be a free nations and later became a nation named Indonesia. Issues for nationalism is has many form, for example in Indonesia has many cultures but those cultures is in danger state when globalization arise and make people more interested in western cultures, so as the nationalist they must defend their culture from another country influence.

In simplest way, nationalist can also being referred as good citizen that not only paid the tax but also involving in developing the nations, for example wearing helmet is very important for the motorcycle rider, even in their norm or belief wearing helmet is not necessary but if the state law said that wearing helmet is important so the good citizen should wear helmet when riding motorcycle.

             Now we are talking about internationalism, just like nationalism that to act as nationalist is to be good citizen in their own country, internationalism also make people even state to behave well in international environment, what make those two different is nationalism have their own limit or border because nation has boundaries like law , etc. Internationalism is unlimited, why? The basis of internationalism is very abstract, it can be based on major influence such as western country, that is because of the internationalism is new term, it is rise after 2^nd World War, so that is why this internationalism still debateable.

Between Nationalism and Internationalism

                The relations between Nationalism and Internationalism is have positive side and also negative side, the positive side is when there are incapable state to handle a problem alone, internationalism will aid this state with giving help directly or indirectly, for example natural disaster like Tsunami in Aceh on 2004, many countries giving hand to giving support like financial for the victims even go directly to help evacuation for the victim to the safer place, another example on 2010 when the most tremendous earthquake strike Haiti, many European country giving aid for Haiti and also many musician make song and the fund that collected from the song is donated to the victims. 

                The negative side that involving nationalism and internationalism is when a state encounter with international issues, and at that time also we worked at international instance such as World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) at that time investigate the forest burning at Riau, Indonesia that disturbing another country like Singapore, Malaysia, etc. and it is proven on violating nature norms we as the citizen of Indonesia will have to choose nationalism or internationalism.             

                Is it true that nationalism should be taught toward every citizen as the form of protect the sovereignty, but it is not for having chauvinism attitude or exaggerated patriotism, as the citizen of international environment, internationalism is also important. That is why the great debate between Chauvinist and Universalist still on going until now.

History of Nationalism and Internationalism

·         NATIONALISM

Although nationalism is unique to the modern world, some of its elements can be traced throughout history. The first roots of nationalism are probably to be found in the ancient Hebrews, who conceived of themselves as both a chosen people, that is, a people as a whole superior to all other peoples, and a people with a common cultural history. The ancient Greeks also felt superior to all other peoples and moreover felt a sense of great loyalty to the political community. These feelings of cultural superiority (ethnocentrism), which are similar to nationalism, gave way to much more universal identifications under the Roman Empire and with the Christian Church through its teaching of the oneness of humanity.

As strong centralized monarchies were built from petty feudal states, as regional languages and art forms were evolved, and as local economies widened, popular identification with these developments became increasingly strong. In areas such as Italy, which were not yet single nations, recurring invasions led such thinkers as Niccolò Machiavelli to advocate national political federation. The religious wars of the Reformation set nation against nation, though the strongest loyalty continued to adhere to the sovereign. In the 16th and 17th cent. The nationalistic economic doctrine of mercantilism appeared.

The growth of the middle classes, their desire for political power, and the consequent development of democratic political theory were closely connected with the emergence of modern nationalism. The theorists of the French Revolution held that people should establish governments of equality and liberty for everyone. To them the nation was inseparable from the people, and for the first time in history a people could create a government in accordance with the nation's general will. Although their aims were universal, they glorified the nation that would establish their aims, and nationalism found its first political expression.

The Nineteenth Century

It was in the 19th cent. That nationalism became a widespread and powerful force. During this time nationalism expressed itself in many areas as a drive for national unification or independence. The spirit of nationalism took an especially strong hold in Germany, where thinkers such as Johann Gottfried von Herder and Johann Gottlieb Fichte had developed the idea of Volk. However, the nationalism that inspired the German people to rise against the empire of Napoleon I was conservative, tradition-bound, and narrow rather than liberal, progressive, and universal. And when the fragmented Germany was finally unified as the German Empire in 1871, it was a highly authoritarian and militarist state. After many years of fighting, Italy also achieved national unification and freedom from foreign domination, but certain areas inhabited by Italians (e.g., Trieste) were not included in the new state, and this gave rise to the problem of irredentism. In the United States, where nationalism had evinced itself in the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, national unity was maintained at the cost of the Civil War.

In the latter half of the 19th cent., there were strong nationalist movements among the peoples subject to the supranational Austrian and Ottoman empires, as there were in Ireland under British rule, and in Poland under Russian rule. At the same time, however, with the emergence in Europe of strong, integrated nation-states, nationalism became increasingly a sentiment of conservatives. It was turned against such international movements as socialism, and it found outlet in pursuit of glory and empire (see imperialism). Nationalist conflicts had much to do with bringing on World War I.

The Twentieth Century

The early 20th cent., with the breakup of Austria-Hungary and of the Ottoman Empire, saw the establishment of many independent nations, especially through the peace treaties ending World War I. The Paris Peace Conference established the principle of national self-determination, upheld by the League of Nations and later by the United Nations. While self-determination is a nationalist principle, it also recognizes the basic equality of all nations, large or small, and therefore transcends a narrow nationalism that claims superiority for itself.

It was exactly this latter type of nationalism, however, that arose in Nazi Germany, preaching the superiority of the so-called Aryan race and the need for the extermination of the Jews and the enslavement of Slavic peoples in their "living space" (see National Socialism). Italian fascism was in a similar manner based on extreme nationalist sentiments. At the same time, Asian and African colonial territories, seeking to cast off imperial bonds, were developing nationalist movements. Perhaps the most famous of these was the Indian National Congress, which struggled for Indian independence for over 60 years. After World War II nationalism in Asia and Africa spread at such a fast pace that dozens of new "nations" were created from former colonial territorial holdings.

Although interdependence and global communications interconnected all nations by the 1990s, nationalism appears to have grown more extreme with the breakup of the Soviet empire, the growth of Muslim fundamentalism, and the collapse of Yugoslavia. Xenophobic, separatist movements are not necessarily confined to newly independent states; they appear in many European nations and Canada, as well as India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and many others. International organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of American States, and the Organization for African Unity, represent attempts to curb extreme nationalism, stressing cooperation among nations.

·         INTERNATIONALSM

The twentieth century, a time of profound disillusionment with nationalism, was also the great age of internationalism. To the twenty-first-century historian, the period from the late nineteenth century until the end of the Cold War is distinctive for its nationalist preoccupations, while internationalism is often construed as the purview of ideologues and idealists, a remnant of Enlightenment-era narratives of the progress of humanity into a global community. Glenda Sluga argues to the contrary, that the concepts of nationalism and internationalism were very much entwined throughout the twentieth century and mutually shaped the attitudes toward interdependence and transnationalism that influence global politics in the present day.

Internationalism in the Age of Nationalism traces the arc of internationalism through its rise before World War I, its apogee at the end of World War II, its reprise in the global seventies and the post-Cold War nineties, and its decline after 9/11. Drawing on original archival material and contemporary accounts, Sluga focuses on specific moments when visions of global community occupied the liberal political mainstream, often through the maneuver of iconic organizations such as the League of Nations and the United Nations, which stood for the sovereignty of nation-states while creating the conditions under which marginalized colonial subjects and women could make their voices heard in an international arena. In this retelling of the history of the twentieth century, conceptions of sovereignty, community, and identity were the objects of trade and reinvention among diverse intellectual and social communities, and internationalism was imagined as the means of national independence and national rights, as well as the antidote to nationalism.

Nationalism or Internationalism?

                We cannot denied that nationalism and internationalism are needing each other to exist, but it is also caused pros and cons that still debateable until nowadays, as the good citizen we must have nationalism to protect our country sovereignty but then internationalism is also important as nationalism because of we already being part of international society, with globalization also this internationalism take part to help each other countries like Aceh Tsunami and Haiti Earthquake. So which one is more important? Is nationalism? Or Internationalism?

Sources :

 http://www.azquotes.com/quote/546897

http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15081.html

http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/nationalism-history.html

http://nasionalisme.id/news/internasionalisme_adalah_nasionalismenya_dunia/2015-04-01-55