The nation-state idea

       As in most ideas, there are pros and cons to the idea of a nation state.

            First the definitions.

                        The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity. The term "nation state" implies that the two geographically coincide. Nation state formation took place at different times in different parts of the earth but has become the dominant form of state organization.

The concept and actuality of the nation state can be compared and contrasted with that of the multinational state, city state, empire, confederation, and other state forms with which it may overlap. The key distinction from the other forms is the identification of a people with a polity.

            Second is an opinion...not a fact.

            I personally think the idea of a nation state is OK, if the boundaries are drawn in a way that reinforce themselves. Many of the present boundaries are just poor, and will probably change in the next century or two, anyway. If this happens, it will often be from fighting and death.  Many of the present-day  boundaries were drawn by diplomats or commercial and colonial interests, often foreign, and often over a century ago. Often today's boundaries include disparate peoples who don't really get along, yet these peoples are included in present day nation states. And it is something we still fight about, as if the decisions by long dead people are the be all, end all.

            Examples abound. A good example is present day Mali, which in its north has Arab Muslim peoples, and in its south has Black Christian and other Religion's peoples. Seldom do they work or marry together, but often they do fight each other. And even today foreigners, mostly French, are intervening for their own reasons. And many are dying because of this old boundary idea.

            So today perhaps is time for another Council of Vienna from 1814, or something like it. The idea is to come up with better boundaries and divisions of land than was done as long ago as the 19th century, sometimes even earlier. Now even I might fight to protect these newer boundaries. And this idea should not be restricted to the third world, but should be for the whole world. And probably to setup such a meeting might take a decade, but so what. One has to start somewhere if we think we can improve our world as we know it. And by improve, I am restricting myself to things like nation-states. Of course some nation-states will be more successful than others, kind of like some tribes are more successful than others already. That's just the way we humans are.

            Said another way, this idea is not some "make us all equal idea". Basically is just to recognize what is already happening, and has been happening for a long time, like since the 19th century.