Presented at:
Centre for Baltic and East European Studies Annual Conference 2014
Södertörn University
Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe: A New Generation on the Move
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Benjamin Klasche
MA Candidate, International Relations
Tallinn University, Institute for Political Science and Governance, Narva mnt 25, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia
Abstract: During the Cold War the world was separated in two blocs. Even countries that were not located
within the two regions affiliated themselves with one side or the other. In fact, it is a human need to have a sense
of belonging. In the year 1991 the dissolution of the two blocs left people looking for a new identity shaping
community. The seemingly unipolarity of the new world combined with the extremely intertwined global
economy and the reign of the internet went forward to make us all world citizens and members of a global
village. However, the new identity was not able to make us feel home and a new phenomenon lead us back to an
overridden identity generator – nationalism. Beyond that, in the former Eastern bloc the dissolution of the
Sovietunion brought also a change of the political, economical and educational system – factors that were also
most important for raise of nationalism in the 19 th century. This paper states firstly, that the global identity
vacuum created by the dissolution of the two blocs left people without a clear identity and not all were able to
establish an identity based on a global-scale mindset (globalization) and secondly, that the regime transformation
in the former Eastern Bloc lead backwards to the 19 th century phenomenon of nationalism. The author will
expose the correlation between the end of the Cold War, the transition to a new system, globalization and
eventually the reversion to nationalism.
Keywords: Nationalism, Globalization, Insecurity, Eastern Bloc, Regime Transformation,
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
2
Introduction
Last September's referendum on the Scottish independence has brought the discussion of the
importance of a nationhood renewed on the table. Even though the Scott's ended up without their own
state it showed us how important the concept of a nation or nationstate still is (or became again) for a
lot of people in Europe and beyond. Already before the referendum took place secessionist regions all
over the globe praised the Scotts efforts and saw themselves endorsed in their aspirations to give their
people a place to live out their own nationhood. But the focus on ones nationality does not appear to be
a solely secessionist one, speak people who did not get granted a nationstate, phenomenon, but is also
represented within established states.
Increasing nationalist sentiments are therefore found all around the globe. In his speech in front
of the 18. Central Committee of the Communist Party, China's general secretary Xi Jingping stressed
China's history as a nation and that it consists nowadays of all the people in China (2012). Similar
realignments to a nationalistic policy are observable in Japan and India, where Japan's new prime
ministers Shinzo Abe's actions, glorifies Japan's militaristic past and promotes the isolation of his
country in Asia and in the Indian case where nationalist ideas try to overcome the extreme
heterogeneity of the population and the ancient caste system. In Sub-Sahara-Africa, where leaders and
elites try to stabilize the artificial post-colonial state with a form of so called “banal nationalism”,
which focusses on the promotion of national symbols, narratives and football teams (Kersting, 2009:8).
Coming back to Europe, checking the recent results from the European election one can not only
observe the alarmingly decreasing voter turnout, which might as well stand supporting for the anti
European sentiment, but also a shift towards the right and far right political spectrum. Some countries
seem more affected than others, but the victory of the Front National (FN) in France (24.86%) and of
the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the UK (27.5%) did come as a big surprise compared to
Hungary's continued domination of right-winged policy (the conservative Fidesz 51.5%, the far-right
Jobbik 15%). Other European countries also sent right-winged representatives into the European
parliament, here the political alignment ranges from populist and euroscepticism over stronger
immigration laws and national pride towards islamophobia and racism. How different those parties
appear on the first view they are all connected by a tendency towards nationalism. It is also traceable
that mainstream political parties pick up some of these ideas and the discussion on distancing oneself
from the Euro, the Union or a strengthening the immigration laws comes up from time to time.
It is surprising that this dusty 19 th century ideology appeals again to numerous governments and
countries. After its extremely chauvinistic interpretation in the first half of the 20 th century it seemed to
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
3
have been disappeared and has been replaced by the blocking of the world as the main identityestablishing entity. However, when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 the blocking ended and in the
End of History all borders seem to have vanished and we were all primed to identify ourselves with the
global village. This might have worked in some cases, but the findings above show also an other
picture. The causes of nationalist tendencies in the 21 st century are very hard to define, which matches
with the problems that we have defining nationalism itself. Different sceneries offer different political,
socio-economical, historical and even geographical factors, which are all constituting a major role in
the shaping of this phenomenon. Extensive research of the matter proves that even extreme generalized
approaches fail to deliver comprehensive attempts of explanation. It becomes apparent that several
known and unknown factors may only apply to specific cases, others however are from more general
nature.
This paper outlines firstly, that the global identity vacuum created by the dissolution of the two
blocs left people without a clear identity and not all were able to establish an identity based on a globalscale mindset (globalization) and secondly, that the regime transformation in the former Eastern Bloc
lead backwards to the 19th century phenomenon of nationalism. In the beginning I will present the
scholarly discourse on the establishment of national identity. It is important to understand not only what
is a nation, but also from where it derives. I will proceed to the more general theme of globalization
based nationalism. I state, that the development towards a more cosmopolitan mindset and of course to
a more cosmopolitan world leads to an inversion of the latter societal trends and favors the formation of
smaller groups within the ideologies of regionalism and especially nationalism. By doing so, I will
shortly explain the general outlines and reasons of cosmopolitanism and more importantly how it
affects the lives and communities of many people. These findings will be used to show that
xenophobia, livelihood insecurity and regionalism are somewhat logical results of the globalization
movement. Considering further the collective memory and narratives of several nations it is also rather
less surprising that a community building concept such as nationalism arises as a consequence. From
this more general principle1 I will continue to the more specific case of the former Eastern Bloc. In
most of these countries national identity is significantly strong and distinct, which on one hand might
correlate with the fact, that their national identity has been suppressed during the Soviet occupation, but
on the other hand is an expression of the regime transformation these countries have to go through. The
change towards liberal democracy and markets can be very painful, where nationalism comes in as a
useful tool of elites to overcome these pains (Mueller, 2013:116). Interestingly enough, the modernist
1 Means that it is applicable not only to one specific region. Its influence can be measured in several places and it could
qualify as a more universal binding explanation for the rise of nationalist tendencies in the 21 st century.
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
4
perspective describes the transformation from one economical system – feudal – to the other one –
capitalism – as one of the main reasons for the rise of nationalism in the first place. Therefore, I argue
that the system changes Eastern Bloc countries went through and still going through are comparable
with the ones we find in the 19th century and reason nationalist tendencies with these.
What is Nationalism?
Before we are looking closer to the origins of nationalism we first need to define what is
nationalism and get a short insight in its history. To find a singular definition of the term nationalism it
seems to appear as an act of impossibility, given the big number of national movements around the
globe and throughout history, all of them based on merely unique features. Margaret Moore identifies
the same problem in her work and suggests that we should get rid of the “ism”, because this suggests
that there is a core to nationalism (2001). According to her this cannot be true since nationalism can
take on so many different forms such as “religious, conservative, liberal, fascist, communist, cultural,
political, protectionist, integrationist, separatist, irredentist, diaspora, pan” (2001:4). However, I
would argue that all these forms of nationalism promote one single idea – community. And in this
particular case a community of a nation. This brings us to the actual problem of nationalism. What is a
nation? This is the first question most scholars take on to define nationalism. Having a closer look on
the term nation makes a definition not necessarily easier. The intellectual community has big troubles
to find an uncontested definition for this concept and agrees only on the fact that it describes a form of
community, which brings us back to the beginning (e.g. Stalin, 1913, Weber 1948 and Deutsch, 1966,).
Continuing, the legitimacy for an community to gain the status of a nation cannot be exactly defined,
but criteria such as language, religion, ethnicity, ideology, culture, history or regional affinity would
make such a list, whereby only one of these might be sufficient enough to claim the status of a nation.
This classical list of nation features gets extended by David Miller as he adds the necessity that the
community is “active in character [and] marked off from other communities by its distinct public
culture” (1995:27). Albeit, this does not change the character of a nation and thereby nationalism could
be defined as the belief or ideology that form individuals into a national community. This notion of
community is definitely the most important feature of nationalism and ensures its resurgence. Kinnvall
goes one step further and identifies communities which are based on common narratives and history
(such as nationalism) as traditional communities (2004:760). These are the most superficial types of
communities and if we get lost were almost at all times able to find our way back there since it is based
on the most altruistic characteristics as language, culture or heritage. Beyond that, they provide us with
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
5
the feeling of home and security, which seems to be the most desirable ones. These are also thoughts
we should keep in mind trying to identify the causes of nationalism.
As already mentioned above, nationalism first appears in the 19 th century. It took over as the
entity, that created loyalty in people's minds. Religion was not able to give this anymore after the
intellectual developments of the Enlightenment and the actions of the American and French revolution
took the power away from monarchs and gave it to the people. Eventually a nation and not the
boundaries of a kingdom became the foundation for states. 2 By that nationalism was a key tool for
Europe's state-building processes in the 19th century (Sutherland, 2012:34). This argumentation goes
very closely along the lines of modernist approach, in which nationalism is described as a phenomenon
of the societal circumstances of the time. It says that nations could have not existed before modern
times and could be even 'imagined' (Anderson, 1993) or 'invented' (Hobsbawm, 1983) by modern elites
and the reading public (Conversi, 2009:346) and thereby represent the exact opposite of 'primordialism'
which states, that nations are an ancient or natural phenomenon. But let us have a look first at the
modernist approach.
Paradigms: Modernism
According to the modernist the historical context needs to receive attention extra attention if we
want to identify the origin of nationalism. Smith (2001) points out that not only nationalism is a recent
phenomenon but so are nations, national states and national identities, which are not only a
chronologically recent phenomenon but they are qualitatively new. One might consider the French
Revolution as the starting point, which did not only break loose a chain of movements throughout
Europe but created a new form of human community (Smith, 2001:45f.). Political, collective and
therefore modern. To Smith, it is clear: “Nationalism, in short, is a product of 'modernity', nothing
less” (Smith, 2001:46). Assumed the French Revolution or the the 18 th century was the birth place of
nationalism we have to find out what were the preconditions of the time to set the change from
traditional societies to modern societies up. Hereby, we reached the playing field of modernization
theories, which are usually focusing on the following main fields: (i) Socioeconomic, (ii) sociocultural,
(iii) political-ideological and (iiii) constructionist. Different scholars define here different varieties of
the modernist approach, especially since some of the features are overlapped and intertwined. But as in
most social science problems definite definition is to be very difficult and I will be engaged to mention
the main characteristics using the categories proposed above.
2 Note, we only speak about Europe.
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
6
(i) The socioeconomic variation of modernism bases the emerge of nationalism on the new
economic and social factors that were brought together with the industrial revolution, the execution of
capitalism and out coming of that regional inequality and class conflicts (Smith, 2001:47). Llobera uses
the classic example of the British Isles to outline the correlation between nationalism and economy. In
the pre-industrialization UK we find already a strong inequality between the Celtic fringe (Scotland,
Wales and Ireland) and the English. Those borders got enhanced with the emerge of the industrialized
society and did not only start political behavior but ethno-national movements. Hechter points out
beyond that, that there is not exactly a national culture, but a core cultural which eventually dominates
the peripheral culture and determines the division of labor and was able to monopolizes social positions
(1975). This lead to a more expressive accentuation of internal differences, inequality and exploitation
which was then answered by ethno-nationalism. This phenomenon is also observable in other parts of
the world as long as the underdeveloped periphery (racial or regional) will get dominated by the
developed core elites. This domination will lead to national sentiments and ideas which on the other
hand have the power to mobilize masses (Smith, 2001:47). In Miroslav Hroch's work (1968) he
proposes also direct connection between capitalism and nationalism, which is the starting point of a
three step evolution in which the transition from a feudal to the capitalist system marks the first step of
a mass national movement.
(ii) The second variation has been identified as sociocultural. The group of scholars promoting
this section is lead by Ernest Gellner and they especially considering the cultural achievements of the
modernization process. Namely, literacy and school-transmitted 'high-culture' indoctrinated through the
public education system. Further, the training of the mobile and literate workforce which became in
support of industrialization and latter encouraged nationalism (Smith, 2001:47). Gellner specifies this
further and says that only a nation-size educational system can produce citizens that want a
distinguished nation (1964:63). Having this system installed resources are available that can form the
'raw biological material' (Gellner, 1964:56) of a nation into specialists, teachers and intellectuals which
are able to promote national ideas. Summed up Gellner assesses the development of the European
education system as the main cause for the evoke of nationalism in the Old World. The increasing
number of schools and literacy lead to the conjuncture that the nationalist ideas of the intelligentsia was
able to spread to the proletariat and reach most part of the population. This would also underline the
hypothesis of communication based theories from Deutsch and others. Between these scholars the
increased effective communication between nationals lead to the transition from traditional to national
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
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communities. Deutsch pointed out that the massive mobilization is mostly connected to
commercialization, industrialization and urbanization and is further connected to the growth of the
general literacy and media of mass communication (1966:27). All these factors promote the
cohesiveness within and the attachment towards a group.
(iii) The third subsection has been titled as politico-ideological and its most common feature is
the big role they attribute to the role of the state in the creation of nationalism. Smith summarizes that
according to the political theories, nations and nationalism was heavily forged through the modern state
be it directly or in the opposition, like imperial/colonial states did (2001:47-48). This is also in so far a
logical assumption since nations are usually expressed in a nationstate and the state borders quite often
define the body of the nation. Furthermore, if we look into the other variations that put the economy
and the cultural achievements in the focus we can observe that both developments eventually center
around states as causes for nationalism. Breuilly goes deeper into this issue and says that every nation
is unique, therefore has a unique society which mirrors itself and needs a unique government/state
(1982:111). This uniqueness was ultimately used to justify the claim of having an unique nation state.
Breuilly titles nationalism therefore as “a powerful force which was essential in the work of coordination, mobilization and providing legitimacy [to the state] which was carried out by a nationalist
movement” (1982:112/113). However, it needs to be added that this is a phenomenon solely valid for
Western Europe of the 18th/19th century and could be implausible to transferred to other situations
(Llobera, 1999:28). Next to Breuilley I would like to point out Michael Mann's work since he
subscribes as a modernist, but considers the notion of a conscious ethnicities or protonations before the
modern times similar to the primordial theories (Llobera, 1999:27-28). However, he accounts the
modern state for the transition from ethnicity to nation because it is able to supply all the necessary
source of social power (economic, political, ideological and military) at the same time. All four factors
were extremely important to Mann and were only available in a state. Nevertheless, different societies
with different characteristics created a different type of nationalism – all more or less bound to the
characteristics of the states based on their professional armed forces and administrators, fiscal-military
pressure, geopolitical rivalry, emergence of commercial capitalism and the introduction of social
classes (Mann, 1992:162). The ideological part features the European origins of nationalism and the
fact, that it was able to break up empires and create nations where none have existed before. It is
without doubt, that the movements of the Enlightenment have to be highly accounted in this process.
This movement dissolved the power of religion and left the peoples behind without a major ideology to
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
8
believe in. This is one of the reasons why nationalism was able to regain so much approval in such
short time. It functioned as a substitute religion. Those notions were enhances by the Kantian premise
of self-determination, which lead not only to a freeing of the spirit but to several independence
movements (Smith, 2001:48).
(iiii) At last I need to shortly introduce the constructionist branch of modernist theories, which
are in so far different, that the main stress does not lay in the transition between societies but in the
socially constructed character of communities (“imagined community” (Smith, 2001:48)). Hobsbawn
gives us two examples of this imagined/constructed realities in the case of the French Republic and the
Second German Empire (1983:79). Both these communities stress the founding acts of their new
regimes and abstain from other historical retrospect. The states choose the few national symbols they
want to be represented with themselves add some ideological baggage to them (Hobsbawn, 1983:79).
Anderson developed this further and states that also communities are imaginary and constructed and
are an imagined community which filled the void left by religion and monarchy (1983:89). Considering
that three fundamental cultural conceptions (the access of truth trough script-language, society is
naturally organized around centers and that history and cosmology are inseparable) needed to be
vanished before nationalism could rise it could be stated that the possibility of print-capitalism opened
the path (Anderson, 1983:90). Anderson concludes that the stage for the modern nation was set as soon
as the “convergence of capitalism and print technology on the fatal diversity of human language
created the possibility of a new form of imagined community” (1983:95).
Paradigms: Primordialism
“The Nation exists before all things and is the origin of all. Its will is always legal, it is the law
itself. (…) Existing only in the natural order, their will, to have its full effects, only needs to posses the
natural characteristics of a will” (cited in Smith, 2001:43). Those are the words found in a pamphlet of
the Abbé Siéyès published in 1789 in which he describes the characteristics of the nation and also
points out the biggest difference between primordialism and modernism – the existence of the nation as
a natural phenomenon and that an individual has this affiliation before all things. It is natural and does
not require social construction. Those are also features that also Llobera describes. His assumption is,
that a group identity is given at the birth of an individual (1999). In fact, every society is equipped with
“primordial, irrational attachments based on blood, race, language, religion, region etc.” (Llobera,
1999:1). Those ties are based on the historical experience of human beings and are naturally fixed and
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
9
transmitted onto families or other primary entities. They are practically a given. The example of the
family might be the most plausible. As soon as we are born into a family we have foregone relational
ties that do not have to be grow or develop through social interaction. Primordialist see the bond of an
individual to its nation given at the same moment. The comparison with the family shows also that the
primordial identity is loaded with sentiments or affections as C. Geertz pointed out (1973). This is why
the bond is not only very strong but also irrational and might not make sense to other groups. Beyond
that, Geertz states that there are primordial attachments, which are based on being born into particular
religious, community, language group (dialect), and connected with that social practices. He calls those
the “givens” (Geertz, 1963:31). Anthony Smith marks Geertz on this remarks as rather influential
especially if you add the notion that primordial attachments are based on perceptions and beliefs and
that human beings attribute them the overpowering strength (2001). Geertz points out how primordial,
cultural ties existed along civil ties that are created by the modern state. Geertz example of the new
states in Africa and Asia point out how the continuos attachment to kin, race, language, religion and
customs does fade in the modern society and sometimes even gains more strength (1963:31-32).
Considering the vast examples of this phenomenon in so called tribal societies in Sub-Sahara-Africa
and the Middle East links this approach mostly with traditional societies. However, it is easily
applicable on modern societies and nationhood. Therefore, it does not matter if we talk about nation or
kin and besides that answers the question, why people feel so much passion and strong attachment to
this sentiment. In other words, people believe in the primordial attachments, identify themselves with
the group and the “naturalness, longevity and power” (Smith, 2001:54) of the feeling makes us into
nations. In fact, primordialism might be more useful to explain the affiliation with ethnicity instead of a
nation. This is also traceable in the following.
In this more biological sediment of primordialism, it is stated that the identification with a nation or a
race can be traced in the “underlying genetic reproductive drives of individuals” (Smith, 2001:52).
This basically means that individuals adjust their mating strategies unconsciously on nepotism or
inclusive fitness to maximize their gen-pool and with that also the national branding. The kinship gets
wider and eventually cultural groups formed ethnic groups which are now based on cultural
characteristics such as language or religion (Smith, 2001:52). This approach was first brought up by
Pierre Van de Berghe who projected the ideas of natural selection on the creation of communities. His
main thesis is that race and ethnicity are to be understood as an extension of kin selection, based on the
fact that human behavior is a process resulted from a evolution that involved the interplay of
genotypical, ecological and cultural factors (Van Den Berghe, 1978). Furthermore he points out that
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
10
human sociality is based on the concept of mutual benefits similar to groupings in the animal kingdom.
This of course, would very much go along with certain modernist concepts that label nationalism as an
ideology based on economic benefits. However, Van Den Berghe suggests that ethnocentrism evolved
during millions or hundred thousands of years out of the benefits the humans gained from it. According
to this approach ethnicity or nationalism is firmly based on the belief of a common descent (Llobera,
1999:7).
Paradigms: Instrumentalism
The last paradigm I want to include in my work is instrumentalism, which could be seen as a
direct critique on primordialism and also as a very close related to the modernist concepts. When
instrumentalist theories first came up it referred rather to ethnic groups that nations, but its general
character makes it flexible enough to be assigned also to the concept of nations. Simply put
instrumentalists believe that national (or ethnic) identity is flexible and varies according to the
circumstances (Llobera, 1999:10). This flexibility can be manifested in several ways, which are ranging
from economic, social or political processes which makes nationhood a tool to gain benefits. This can
be used by individuals themselves, when they gain personal advantage to join another group (e.g.
immigration) or by an elite, who gains from the action (e.g. promoting nationalism for the sake of statebuilding). To say it with Smith's words:
“Nationalism becomes simply an argument through which sub-elites can mobilize people, coordinate
the diverse interests of social groups and legitimate their actions, in order to seize or regain power in
the modern state.” (2001:56)
According to Breuilly nationalism has nothing to do with identity or homeland or anything comparable,
but is solely an instrument to achieve political power and can therefore only appear in the modern,
state-centric society (1993). Bačová states that the biggest difference lays in the emotionality. Where
primordialist would describe national belonging as a very passionate undertaking, is the instrumentalist
mostly of rational and practical character (1998:33). She describes the relationship between the
individual and the grouping it describes to as an instrument to achieve his goals and the bond could be
characterized as “cool-headed, formal, intentional, purposeful, requiring conscious loyalty and formed
on the basis of choice” (ibid.:33) and it could be comparable to a subscription to a sports club, union or
political party. Most importantly there are “universal and historically lasting” (ibid.:33). An
instrumentalist would therefore argue that the modern state is an organization built on a formal
membership that needs the support of its members to exist.
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
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From Globalization to Nationalism
Since the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the two blocs most the global system went
through a lot of changes. The biggest change was undoubtably based on the newly created unipolarity
of the former bipolar world, that laid the headstone for globalization. More noticeable however was the
overall opening of the world markets and the extreme connectedness of all imaginable type of global
actors. Boarders seem to loose their relevance and the world wide economic flows, based on the
opening of virtual all markets, are unstoppable. The same phenomenon is observable with global fiscal
flows, drug trafficking and human movement (legal and illegal). Next to the economical pillar of
globalization we can also observe the manifestation of its cultural one. Propelled by the World Wide
Web, high global migration, fondness to travel and the worldwide cultural infiltration of the Western
culture (mostly American), we seem to have been on the course to implement Kant's concept of
cosmopolitanism and world citizenship in our new world. 3 Of course, one can argue that these
processes emanated way before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and that the opening of global
markets, increased international cooperation through the noticeable rise of international organizations
happened already in the 1970s, but only with the disappearing of the two blocs did these development
reach global status. The end of the SU smoothed the way for multiple countries within and outside of
the Eastern Bloc to establish the transformation towards more democracy, and the opening of markets
which highly promotes the development of globalization and cosmopolitanism.
Cosmopolitanism
Our globalized world has a big influence on the every day lives of most people and changed to a
certain extend our identities. As already implied, are the developments related with economical and
cultural globalization the main influence on the cosmopolitan identity (Pichler, 2011:22). According to
most main stream scholars the interdependence and interconnectedness between states and people in
economic, political, cultural and social terms are believed to evolve the feeling of being a world
citizenship (Pichler, 2011:22). This is in my opinion a very whitewashed interpretation of globalization
and it completely denies the fact, that globalization also brought in certain cases, international
terrorism, poverty, anti-foreigner sentiments, and an aggressive realignment of domestic and foreign
policies. But more about this later. Nevertheless, out of the following reasons I consider the effects of
globalization as the main drive towards a cosmopolitan mindset.
Firstly, the opening of the global markets lead to a worldwide intertwined economy in which
3 Unfortunately, this development has nothing to do with the Kantian thought of World-Citizens but more with the
imposing of Western culture and capitalism on the rest of the world.
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
12
single state or regions are completely relying on the resources, raw materials or products from a
different part of the world. A very common example is Japan's consumer electronic industry which has
to import nearly every material used in their manufacturing process. On the other hand Japan's main
outlet is situated across its boarders. Therefore a lot of Japan's economical success and connected with
that its welfare is hereby based on the trade with other states. This does not only bring along a
transnational dependence but also increases the mobility of capital and a massive transfer of population
(Kacowicz, 1998:2). Key parts for cosmopolitism is undoubtedly the movement of cultural goods in
this process. Regional products are available around the whole globe and the moving people are finding
themselves in a new cultural environment but also bring their own cultural identity into the new living
place. A mingling of cultures is the consequence. Interesting are also the remarks of Kacowicz (1998:2)
about the ideological changes that are brought along by the international acting industries. It is often
connected with a trade and investment liberalization, deregulations, privatizations and most importantly
the adoption of political democracy in the institutional level. This might be again due to the strong
Western influence in the world economy, nonetheless it is another factor that unifies the world. It
further disables state boarders and its flow is unstoppable (Okhonmina, 2010:178). A similar
observation is to be made in the following point.
Secondly, I would like to elaborate the human mobility factor a little bit more. There are a
number of criteria that promote the extensive amount of human mobility in our globalized time. The
newly achieved technological possibilities (which of course also have an effect of the economical
possibilities) are highly increasing the mobility. Traveling costs are at an absolute minimum and low
cost airline flights made weekend tourism available for nearly everybody. In addition to that, the
importance of leisure increased (so did the available time necessary for it) in most societies and by that
the possibility to visit other countries. This is inter alia tangible in the still annually increasing tourist
numbers (UNWTO, 2013). If we furthermore decide to live abroad for a temporary time the internet
gives us beforehand unknown chances to keep the contact to beloved ones at home. Tourism as well as
longer temporary stays abroad are also impelled by our extensive access to foreign media in form of
novels, movies, television shows, who put knowledge and pictures of far away places in our head, that
we wish to visit. Convenient is hereby also the fact, that the English language has reached nearly all
corners of the globe and people are able to make themselves understood nearly everywhere in the
world. Fear is taken away and new possibilities arise in foreign countries. Combined with the increased
economical possibilities abroad, the human mobility increases highly, mostly due to the search for
better live circumstances or the desire of a market for specialists. Summarized, this means that the
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
13
social exchange between humans has extremely increased in the last 50 years, due to new technological
achievements, the internationalization of the economy, the knowledge of different cultures and
countries through the media and not at least because of the opportunities gained by the internet. This
brought a lot of different cultures in touch and can be indeed be named the main factor for the mingled
cosmopolitan culture.
Thirdly, I will engage further in the increased role the internet plays in our world. In fact, to me
it is/was the main factor to accelerate the globalization in such a manner. It is the main tool used to
maintain international relations, and as I pointed out is very much inclined as the medium that spreads
knowledge and information through the globe. However, the most important part in the understanding
of the globalization is its ability to form social relations and groups, which are overcoming every sort
of social barriers such as gender, race, religion or nationality. Hrynyshyn expresses this as followed:
“The internet is very much a global medium, supporting the flow of information and images around the
world without regard for national borders, thereby diminishing the relevance of nationality to
communication” (2008:752). This is, next to its availability virtually everywhere in the world, exactly
where its main strength is found in and explains why it plays the biggest part in shaping a cosmopolitan
identity. Users get catapulted with news and information in split of seconds and make us part of a
highly interconnected link in which we get advised to feel for example empathy to catastrophic events
happening thousands of miles away. Just ten years ago it would have been absolutely unimaginable that
every average internet user is able to maintain active friendships around the whole globe - on a daily
live basis. This of course, is accounted to the high success of social networks. If we look at Facebook,
Twitter or Instagram, whose networks are able to connect more than a billion people completely
borderless and within seconds we might understand the scope of the internet in a globalized world. One
might even consider the affiliation within an active usage of Facebook of something that comes the
closest to a world citizenship. Further, this creates a feeling of closeness towards other people that
would be unimaginable without the help of the internet. This feeling of closeness and affinity or
membership is one of the most important factors that shape our identity, out of which we can speak
about the internet as a true cosmopolitan identity shaper.
It is shown above how the globalization movement shapes a worldwide identity that one could
describe as cosmopolitan. The role of the internet is hereby especially crucial since it promotes the
social character of globalization. This is, according to my understanding the main factor why the idea
of cosmopolitanism reached a level unimaginable before. Nonetheless, the economical entanglement of
the markets and the increased human mobility are factors to way in. The above described influence
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
14
globalization has on a cosmopolitan identity are arguably from positive nature (naturally, one might
argue, that social networks and multiplying of wealth is the doomsday for mankind) and show only the
positively connoted outcomes. Saying this, implies already that there is also a negative side of
globalization/cosmopolitanism hidden under the praising of modernity and progress. First of all one has
to consider, that the whole cosmopolitan spirit does not reach every part of the world. This goes along
with an incoherent cosmopolitanism character, which heavily relies on the cultural and social context it
comes in touch with. This means, that young people, that live in urban areas, are well educated, highly
future-oriented, and have an open minded character are very likely to be the ones with the highest sense
of a cosmopolitan identity (Pichler, 2011:25). Therefore, on the other end of the spectrum we find
people which belong to the older generation, live in the rural areas with less contacts with
internationals, which are less educated and likely to be less cosmopolitan.
The list of negative outcomes includes next to, global terrorism, impoverishment of whole
regions, hegemonic tendencies, cultural assimilation and xenophobia. Before we will have a closer look
at these negative attributes I have to point out that I am not able to observe every single one of them in
the scope of this paper and therefore I will focus on those who I see mostly engaged in the grow of
anti-cosmopolitan sentiments that grew (or is able to grow) into nationalism and thereby backfires the
idea of a cosmopolitan identity.
Xenophobia
One the first view it might be surprising that xenophobia is a phenomenon connected with
cosmopolitanism, which is expected to change social identities and transforms single communities
towards a world community (Ariely, 2012:540). The ultimate result of cosmopolitanism would be to
form a unitarian group that, would seem to render the chances of xenophobia, because national identity
does not exist in the global village. However especially economical processes that are connected with
globalization play a part in contributing to this unexpected outcome. As pointed out above globalization
brings a lot of human mobility with it, be it out of business, economical or political or touristic reasons.
This, even in an open-minded and globalized society, can lead to frictions between the foreigners and
locals. The vanishing of national identity combined with the increased of global goods available and
the culturally diverse waves of immigrants are reasons to reflect on your culture and national identity
(Ariely, 2012:551). This is a process that is observable amongst immigrants and locals. It can come to
an ongoing measuring of cultural superiority by comparing national goods and ideals, stressing that
your own ones are “better”. This type of cultural chauvinism is a classic feature of nationalism.
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
15
Ariely also points out that several studies on this subject came to different results considering
the effect of globalization on national identities (2012:552). The influences of globalization are, as
indicated above, various in different nations considering the social status and the living environment.
However, Ariely points out that “more globalized” countries are more prone to a negative connection
between immigrants and nationalism (2012:551). One of the possible explanations is based on the fact
that more globalized countries and areas are out of this reason more likely to be destinations of
immigrants. The fact that an immigrant selects a country (mostly due to an economical advantage) is
already reason enough to take oneself for something better and give nationalism a fertile soil.
Even if the exact reason stays unidentified it becomes clear that the “sense of belonging” plays a big
role in the assertion of national identity. In a globalized world it can become difficult to identify to
which group an individual belongs. This can be more confusing if a different ethical group enters the
every day society and has influence on the every day life. In this scenario nationalism can become a
protective group dynamic. The organizing in an ethnic pure group, that values the same history and
culture can be understand as distance setting measure against confusing daily life influences by the
otherness. In addition to that, the seemingly lack of national boundaries and other barriers in the
globalized world can lead to a reassessment of this model (Ariely, 2012:545). These phenomenons on
the other hand get are used by very right winged national groups to maximize the value of their
arguments. National groups are quickly growing and the step to distinct nationalism is not far off.
Insecurity
The second negative attribute of globalization I want to consider in this paper is the issue of
insecurity that comes with the process of globalization. We know that globalization is not a brand new
phenomenon and has been happening arguably since the beginning of the modern times. 4 However at
our point of time, waging in all new technological achievements, the globe became a smaller place, in
which far away events affect our political, social and economic lives (Kinnvall, 2004:742). More
instability arises from the already indicated disappearance of time- and space-bound identities, which is
again boosted by the internet and modern infrastructure. Above that, a lot of societies and economical
systems have passed through a severe change during the last 40 to 50 years. Liberalization of
governments and economies (privatization, global competitiveness linked with the weakening of job
security) based on the Western system has changed the lives of millions of people. According to
Kinnvall this was linked with the necessity to overcome old patterns of behavior and brought two
4 The starting point chosen here is Portugal's/Spain's command of the world sea's which lead to an intensification of world
trade. However, one might argue that global trade (e.g. via the Silk Road) has a history that dates way further back.
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
16
consequences along: “(1) Old ways of getting things done were eliminated, which tends to leave behind
only uncertainty; and (2) the structures that identified community and bound it together are also being
eliminated” (2004:743). Both have a disintegrating effect on the society and threaten the feeling of
security. From here it is easy to understand the increased number of immigrants and asylum seekers as
a threat to security. The global changes therefore have disabled the protective function that smaller
communities were able to provide (Giddens, 1991). Further, the individual feels alone in a world in
which he or she lacks the support provided by more traditional settings (Giddens, 1991). Other
characteristics of the modern global society are anonymity, alienation, mobility, which also lead to
reversal of the modern trends, seeking for traditional cultural reference points to find a place in the
modern world. Again, this is a call for more security.
If we try to think about the place or the environment that equips most of us with security, the
concept of home is inevitable. Kinnvall explains that the concept of home bears a so called “ontological
security” (2004:747), because this is the place people feel the most control about their lives and it is
free from social pressure. This is where identities are constructed. If we now consider the concept of
home as not only the house of our parents but as our home nation, the proneness for nationalism is
quiet obvious. As pointed out in the beginning of this paper, the main strength of nationalism is the
community building, which in the individualistic world, has a lot of security to offer. I also pointed out,
how the concept of nationalism is rather old and seemed to be forgotten, but especially older traditional
concepts seem to be affiliated with the idea of home, as they are connected with narratives and history
of the community. Kinnvall calls them therefore traditional communities (2004:760), which are like
family or home able to provide us with the feeling of security and belonging. It remains to be
concluded that nationalism is a powerful identity supplier, which abilities are to convey unity, security
and inclusiveness in the modern society that is plastered with identity crises.
Regime Transformation in the Former Eastern Bloc
The dissolution of the Soviet Union did not only open the world markets and promoted a
globalized world, but had concrete effects on several countries who were under direct control and
influence of the USSR regime. The end of the SU did therefore also end the dominance of party loyal
leadership throughout Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus, Central Asia and not to forget the
Russian Republic. Formerly aligned governments have been resolved and the political and economical
transition towards a Western model started nearly immediately. The inefficiency, corruption and
proneness of pauperism of the former regimes created a widely spread euphoria, that the struggle is
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
17
over and all these countries will enjoy soon enough the freedom, wealth and equality as the Western
world. As Fukuyama described it in his famous essay liberalism is unstoppable and has become the
main ideology in the former Eastern Bloc (1989). Naturally, this movement was not comprehensive and
some people are still confronted with authoritarian regimes, but the majority of societies was able to
transform towards the Western example. However, as Fukuyama noted already 25 years ago, liberalism
is not necessarily an inclusive ideology and can be paired at this conjuncture with notions of
nationalism (1989:12). Mueller, captures this thought shortly and indicates how nationalist notions can
be very helpful in the progress of liberalization (2011:116). It could be a constructive force, so to say a
tool, to reach political and economical development, as it has been successfully showcased in the case
of Poland and Germany's re-unification process (2011:117). Mueller names only those two examples in
his short piece, but it is obvious that nationalist tendencies played an important role in the forging of
several other former communist states and societies.
One might argue that the nationalist tendencies are especially connected to the fact, that most
of these nations have been suppressed for decades by the politics of the USSR. The suppression was
not only from political nature but also culturally. National customs and rites have been forbidden or
changed, usage of the national language has been limited (Russian as an official), and a general
marginalization of nationhood has been practiced. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise, that the
end of the Soviet Union lead to a revive of national sentiments and emotions and to a stronger
conduction of national customs and rites, due to the long period of suppression and absence. This is
obviously a plausible explanation for the strong characteristic of nationalism in a lot of countries of the
former Eastern Bloc, but it cannot be credited fully for the development and in the last instance fails to
explain the renewed politicalization of nationalism in the 21 st century.
Considering, the fact that most of the former Eastern Bloc countries were looking towards the
Western model, which was based on liberal markets and democracy, it was without a question that the
previous political and economical system need to change. Regime transitions of this kind and this
multitude are rather seldom in the modern history and are after all only comparable to the
developments observable in the late 18 th and 19th century. The transition from the feudal system towards
capitalism has similar political and economical influences on the people than the transition from the
communists governments to the Western model. Furthermore, the transition in the 19 th century was not
only from economical and political nature but also had an immense influence on the culture and society
of communities. National languages became more spoken and their importance grew quickly. The
school system reached an unknown level and it was possible to spread knowledge, values and ideas
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
18
throughout the countries. A similar effect had the achievements in the world of media. Not only did the
amount of newspapers increase heavily but the means of communication reached a new high with the
introduction of the railway and the morse telegraphy. The speed of these processes was from there on
heavily accelerated by the existence of a state, which was able to reconcile all these things. According
to modernist scholars, this was the breeding ground of the early nationalism in the 19 th century. As
noted already above, the ex-communist states were not so different after all. Next to obvious change of
the political and economical system (which nonetheless, has a huge effect on the ideological alignment
of the people), did the regime transfer heavily promote the national culture, media and language, open
new means of communication. Above all, these developments were happening within a newly formed
state, which was (and still is) very willing to use these factors to promote nationalism.
The economical shift formed a new societal structure. Societies went again to more liberal
structures, with workers, service contractors, business owners and so on. The preached equality of the
communist society disappeared and the differences enhanced national sentiments. This gets especially
amplified with the transnational competition, that one has to compete with in the globaluzed world.
Next to that, with the end of the Iron Curtain, whole countries were eventually able to produce and
perform media in their own national language. This was of course not totally forbidden in the SU, but
the end of it also meant the end of the Russian language in most of the states. Schools changed the
curriculum and its language and were using the new possibility to promote national heritage to the
youngest ones (e.g. Kopp, 1992). Here is already the role of the state traceable in the process of
promoting nationalism within the regime transition. Newly gathered governments of partly brand new
states have a high interest in forming a strong, longstanding and independent state. One of the best
tools to achieve this is the glorification of the states own nation and its rightful place in the community
of states. This new state has all the resources and the opportunity to create a national understanding
based on myths, folklore, language, values and rites that have not only been suppressed by a bigger
nation, but shall never be buried in oblivion again. In fact the state is the strongest promoter and
constructor of a national identity, since it does not only contain the necessary social power to combine
the ingredients described above (Mann, 1992:161). On top of that, considering the novel nature of these
states, they have the opportunity to create and construct the character of their “new” nationstate, by
promoting selected symbols, just the way it is beneficial for the elite. The notion of nationalism as a
tool can be observed in the case of Hungary, where the leading party uses nationalism as a tool to
overshadow economical shortcomings. This feature is not only supported by the modernist but also by
the instrumentalist school of thought.
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
19
In short, the regime transition in the former Eastern Bloc states displays several features
observable in the transition period from the feudal to the capitalist system in the late 19 th century.
Therefore, it is thoroughly possible to use modernist approaches to explain the increasing nationalist
tendencies and sentiments in ex-communist governments in and around Europe.
Conclusion
This paper pointed out, how the dissolution of the Soviet Union might have been the End of
History, but it has also enhanced the emerge of nationalism on a global and on a regional level. The
end of the SU and the global opening of the markets and influence-spheres is a main reason for the
developments of a global culture. It is developing consisting of several influences brought by the
international media accessibility, high frequented tourism, business travels and economical
immigration, which has been boosted since the end of the blocking of the world. Nevertheless, none of
these processes would have experienced this phenomenal increase would it not been for the internet.
This technological revolution changed the perception of time and space and was able to connect the
world in a way never imaginable only 20 years ago. All these developments based on globalization lead
ultimately to a cosmopolitan identity. People involved with a lot of these processes become world
citizens and are part of the so called global village. However in this dynamic, restless and anonymous
world a person can loose its identity rather easy and craves for an identity giving institution. This
feeling is in large parts owed to emerging xenophobia and insecurity. Xenophobia is a rather
unexpected phenomenon in a cosmopolitan world, but the increased number of immigrants, mixed with
economical competitiveness and cultural assimilation can be used by very right winged groups to
advertise nationalism. Very much connected with that is the insecurity that comes along with the
modern times. Globalization can have a disintegrating effect on society and thereby on security. The
feeling of home gets lost and the traditional community endowing concept of nationalism becomes very
appealing. It substitutes the inclusiveness and insecurity of the globalized world with national
narratives and history.
In a regional spectrum, the dissolution of the SU lead to a drastic regime transformation in
multiple states, that used to be part of the USSR or that have been a satellite of the same. The features
of the transition of political, economical, societal and cultural nature are very much comparable with
observations made in the transition period from feudalism to capitalism, which gets in many cases
accredited for the emergence of early nationalism. The newly established states are furthermore very
Nationalism as a Product of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
20
interested in arranging a construct that should not only be independent and longstanding, but also
accepted by its inhabitants it is not far off to uses its social powers, to reconcile all necessary factors
under itself and in some kind of way uses nationalism as a tool to increases its support and
stabilization.
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