International Politics and State Power

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Nationalist movements are frequently studied as if, apart from external ideological influences, they remain insulated from global affairs. The dynamic of ethnic mobilisation is seen primarily as a phenomenon which occurs within state boundaries. In practice, however, such movements rarely — if ever — develop in complete isolation from the broader international arena. On one level international events, relations with other states or movements, and broader geopolitical shifts can all have direct repercussions on both the shape of nationalist strategies and their success or failure. On another, achieving independent statehood, the ultimate political objective of nationalism, necessarily implies securing international recognition as well as domestic sovereignty. As Chapter 4 suggested, extraneous geopolitical events strongly influenced the nature and outcome of the nationalist struggle in each of the case studies. In addition, nationalist leaders were painfully aware of the need to achieve both de jure recognition for their claims as well as de facto control over their respective states. This chapter examines the implications of the international dimension of national mobilisation, focusing particularly on the issue of sovereignty. It argues that in each case the movement’s domestic strategies were linked directly to international ones and helped them to secure both internal and international legitimacy in the drive for state power.