The Shifting Foundations of Modern Nation-States: Realignments of Belonging

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom, Chile and the Nazis, and The Diplomacy of War: The Case of
Korea.

The editors of this book explain that the nation–state has a dubious
future. Separatist movements threaten the survival of some; others are
integrating into larger entities, such as the European Union. A group of
distinguished authors examine cases from North America (Canada and the
United States), Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Hungary), and Asia
(Russia, and Indonesia).

Ramsay Cook reviews the contending forces, past and present, in
Canada—from Quebec nationalists to those who favour greater unity
between Canada and the United States. Like countless others, Frank Unger
wonders why the United States lacks a viable socialist party and a
willingness to learn from the experiences of people in other countries;
the threat to U.S. survival, he says, lies in unbridled individualism.
Dietmar Schirmer asks who qualifies as a German: a resident of another
country whose ancestors once lived in Germany, or a resident of Germany
whose ancestors lived somewhere else. Marta Petrusewicz looks at the
attitudes of Italians from the north toward Neapolitans and Sicilians,
and vice versa. Thomas Ferenczi discusses Corsican nationalism, and
Lбszlу Kontler ponders Hungarian values: why should Hungary’s
national holiday (August 20) commemorate the burial of an 11th-century
king rather than an attempted liberal revolt of March 15, 1848? Andreas
Heinemann-Grьder deals with Chechnya’s place in post-Soviet Russia.
Benedict Anderson reviews the secession of East Timor from Indonesia.
Given Indonesia’s shallow historical roots, why should that country,
he wonders, have been limited to the former Dutch East Indies, exclusive
of the British and Portuguese territories with which the Dutch East
Indies shared some islands?

The authors offer stimulating ideas, but one wonders. Did some of them
ignore the obvious? Does distance play a role in Canada, the United
States, and Indonesia? Is Corsica’s insularity a factor in the
Corsican identity? Do Hungarians prefer a holiday on August 20 instead
of March 15 because of the collective sense of pessimism suggested by
the author, or because the weather is better?