The Past, Present, and the Future
of the Nation-State

John Hutchinson

This article examines contemporary debates about the nation-state as a political model in the contemporary world. After discussing what we mean by the terms, "nation" and "national identity," I discuss the relationship between the nation and the state, and whether effective governance requires a national basis. Lastly, I explore whether federal multinational systems are viable alternatives to the unitary nation-states, and the implications of the European Union for the future of the nation-state dynamic in Europe.
Global Dimensions of Nations and Nationalism.

Many theorists of globalization predict the decline of the nation-state, classically conceived as a sovereign political community, territorially bounded, culturally homogeneous, and economically integrated. In their different versions they argue that the autonomy of the nation-state is mitigated by the growth of transnational institutions that have resulted in a pooling or loss of sovereignty. The identity of nations has also been recast. The unlikelihood of large-scale war between great powers means the loss of the traditional mechanism of collective differentiation: an appeal to us versus them. Global migration patterns and the international recognition of the rights of minorities mean that homogeneous national cultures are being pluralized and hybridized. The future entails either new forms of community or weakened nation-states having to come to terms with multiculturalism.

These discussions tend to be Western Europe-centered (and I would argue are of limited validity even for the prosperous "West"). The problem in Eastern Europe and the Balkans is to contain the resurgence of nationalism in post-communist states; in Africa to sustain collapsing state-nation structures; and in many parts of Asia, including Afghanistan, to establish a common national identity as well as a stable political order. In fact, globalization, defined as an intensification of interconnectedness of the world's populations, is not necessarily inimical to the nation-state. The diffusion of the national model from its European origins is itself another form of globalization.

What do we mean by the national model? . . .

John Hutchinson is Senior Lecturer in Nationalism in the Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science.