Nation Building

Nation building is constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state. It aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run.

Nation building is the process through which these majorities are constructed." Nation builders are those members of a state who take the initiative to develop the national community through government programs, including military conscription and national content mass schooling.

Many factors, such as prior democratic experience, level of economic development, and social homogeneity, can influence the ease or difficulty of nation-building, but the single most important controllable determinant seems to be the level of effort, as measured in troops, money, and time.

It may also include the creation of national paraphernalia, such as national days, national airlines, anthems, flags, national stadiums, national languages, national sports teams, as well as national heroes and myths.

Nation building is as well the basis on which to ensure that a country takes up an effective role within the world community.

The 4 pillars of a nation building plan would cover these categories: Government and Administration; Economic Development; Land, Resources and Capital Infrastructure; Social Development.

Nation building involves social harmony, infrastructure development and economic growth of the nation. National development will improve the lives of citizens with the growing economy.

"The efforts of governments alone will never be enough. In the end, the people must choose and the people must help themselves." John F. Kennedy

It is the youth of a country that plays the most important role in nation building. Youth have a role to renew and refresh the current status of our society including leadership, innovations, skills etc. Youth are expected to advance the current technology, education, politics, and peace in a country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines 'Adolescents' as individuals in the 10-19 years age group and 'Youth' as the 15-24 year age group. While 'Young People' covers the age range 10-24 years.

Legally, the term child may refer to anyone below the age of majority or some other age limit. Although. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".

“This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.” Robert Kennedy

Youth Power is a campaign to achieve the global goals to end poverty, inequality and climate change. Such campaign supports young people and their collective power to turn these promises into reality.

A strong nation consists of many different factors. It's more than having a powerful military or even having a strong leader. Education makes a nation strong because it not only helps raise leaders, but it also betters the lives of those for whom being independent from things like welfare means so much.

Throughout history, nations have formed in several ways. Some were established as a result of geographic isolation, such as England. Others were created as the result of emigration, such as Canada and Australia, often displacing existing nations.

A nation's diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby, a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be reaccorded either de facto or de jure.

De jure recognition relates to a process contemplated by law. De facto is not a process of law but based on factual situation. De jure is permanent recognition and cannot be withdrawn. De fact is not permanent it is temporary, provisional recognition, which can be withdrawn.

Although it's not clearly laid out in law, a territory essentially becomes a sovereign state when its independence is recognized by the United Nations. Becoming an internationally recognized sovereign country is not a clear or straightforward process.

In political science, a "nation" refers to a group of people who feel bound into a single body by shared culture, values, folkways, religion and/or language. A "state" just refers to a patch of land with a sovereign government. States often coincide with nations (and are called "nation-states," but not always.

For a nation to be called a state and to enjoy rights, duties and obligations under international law, it is necessary that the existing states have given awareness of its capability of being a state. Such awareness by existing states is called recognition.

A nation is formed as a result of a common race, religion, language, territory, history, culture or political aspirations. These elements are not essential and are ever-changing.

In three easy steps, here's how to establish an independent country:

• Step 1. Must have a defined territory
• Step 2. Must have a permanent population
• Step 3. Must have a government
• Step 4. Government must be capable of interacting with other states

(This last one is somewhat controversial. It was included as a qualification in the 1933 Montevideo Convention, which established the United States good neighbor policy of nonintervention in Latin America, but is generally not recognized as international law.)

In three easy steps, here's how to become an independent country:

• Step 1. Declare independence. To become an independent country, a new country must first satisfy the international laws rules that all free countries generally acknowledge and follow set forth by the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, adopted in 1933.
• Step 2. Gain recognition. In order to be legitimate, a new country must be recognized by existing states within the international community.
• Step 3. Join the United Nations (U.N.). The U.N. asserts that, because it itself is not a country, it does not possess any authority to recognize a state or government. But being admitted into the U.N. goes a long way toward a new country becoming recognized by the international community.

In order to apply for U.N. membership, the aspiring country first needs to send an application letter, along with a declaration that it will follow the United Nations charter, to U.N. Secretary General.

The application is then passed along to the Security Council, where it must get the affirmative votes of at least nine of the 15-member Council. If any of the council's five permanent members (China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom , and the United States) vote against the country, the application does not go forward.

If approved, the Council's recommendation for admission is then presented to the General Assembly for consideration, which consists of the current 193 U.N. member states. A two-thirds majority vote is needed for the new country to gain admission into the U.N., and if approved, its membership becomes effective on the date the resolution for admission is adopted.

Meanwhile, a provisional government, also called an interim government or transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of new nations or following the collapse of the previous governing administration. Provisional governments are generally appointed, and frequently arise, either during or after civil or foreign wars.

Provisional governments maintain power until a new government can be appointed by a regular political process, which is generally an election. The establishment of provisional governments is frequently tied to the implementation of transitional justice. Decisions related to transitional justice can determine who is allowed to participate in a provisional government.

While, a Government-in-Exile (GiE) is a political group which claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in another state or foreign country. Governments in exile usually plan to one day return to their native country and regain formal power.

Exiled governments tend to occur during wartime occupation, or in the aftermath of a civil war, revolution, or military coup. The effectiveness of a government in exile depends primarily on the amount of support it receives, either from foreign governments or from the population of its own country. Some exiled governments come to develop into a formidable force, posing a serious challenge to the incumbent regime of the country, while others are maintained chiefly as a symbolic gesture.

International law recognizes that governments in exile may undertake many types of actions in the conduct of their daily affairs. These actions include:

• Becoming a party to a bilateral or international treaty
• Amending or revising its own constitution
• Maintaining military forces
• Retaining, or newly obtaining, diplomatic recognition from other states
• Issuing identity cards
• Allowing the formation of new political parties
• Holding elections

In cases where a host country holds a large expatriate population from a government in exile's home country, or an ethnic population from that country, the government in exile might come to exercise some administrative functions within such a population.

Case and point, the 900-year-old "Sovereign Order of Malta" has diplomatic relations with 100 countries and observer status at the United Nations even though its entire territory is contained in a few buildings in Rome.

Nation building isn't that difficult, it just requires financial sustainability, political wit, diplomatic acumen, a lot of patience, and the right friends...

Food for thought!