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The creation of states since 1945
Samson ZhangKalevi Holsti. The State, War, and the State of War. Cambridge University Press, 1996, Chapter 4.
Feb 3, 2022
Summary
States that formed from colonies after 1945 lacked robust national and community definitions, encouraged by external forces like the UN to be created regardless of whether its government was effective or it could support its people.
Notes
- Colonies not set up to be states
- Boundaries were made arbitrarily without regard to existing political structures, communities, geography, etc.
- Colonies were governed via amalgam of local structures, but were ultimately political fiction without standalone grounding
- But following movements for liberation (post WWII), colonies formed into states
- Lack of nationalism => liberation movements sought to establish states first, nationalism later
- Alternate forms of government rejected
- 1960: UN embraced post-colonial states as end to colonialism, ignoring the interests of the state itself
- in 1919 League of Nations applied lots of scrutiny to new Eastern European countries: evidence of enforcement of law, constitution, etc. -- no such examination for post-1945 countries
- UN encouraged international aid, supply of arms -- helped new states reinforce internal power, not defend against external threats
- Legitimacy of post-colonial states was negative: independence from colonizers, not necessarily for a meaningful community
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Poli 5: Intro to Comparative Politics
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