National problem

The complex of cultural, economic, juridical, social and linguistic relationships established within a single or contiguous territory. The national problem exists between different ethnogeny-religious groups with national consciousness and that defend their common interests, in opposition to the interests of other collectivizes. In ancient and Medieval times, with the predominance of a natural economy, the intensity of relations between human beings belonging to different ethnic or religious groups was relatively low, and was compensated with the subservience to one or another ruler that utilized extra-economic coercion as their principal method for preserving or extending their dominions ― which, as a general rule, were multiethnic and often multi-faith. Only in modern times, with the formation of national markets and as a result of the English and French revolutions, the era of the formation of nation states began, one official religion and language predominated. In conclusion, the concepts of “state” and “nation” merged together. After the breakup of the Medieval empires as a consequence of the First World War, the national principle was adopted in the construction of the European and Asian states, even by multiethnic communities (Eastern Europe, the USSR, Turkey, China). As a consequence of the victory over Fascism in the Second World War and the expansion of the national liberation movements to the continents of Asia and Africa, as well as to the Caribbean and Oceania, the number of states rose from fifty to nearly two hundred. These countries, the majority of them multiethnic, also apparently adopted the form of the nation state (for example, India adopted this national criterion) along with the norm of maintaining the borders inherited from the colonial era. This enabled them to minimize the dimensions of inter-ethnic and interfaith conflicts, but they failed to eradicate them entirely. The cases of the former Yugoslavia, Pakistan, the Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi, Angola, the post-Soviet republics, etc. demonstrate the seriousness of national problems in today’s world. The current national conflicts are, in large measure, the result of colonialism in its various manifestations, because the colonial empires administered their territories by pitting ethnic-religious groups against each other. Today these groups and clans want to preserve their privileges, while the groups, clans and communities suffering from inequality are used by foreign powers, opportunistic groups and natives to sow armed uprisings, terrorist acts and thus generally suppress the emerging states by stifling their independence. In this way, the n.p. has become one of the most pressing global impediments of our times. N.H considers that the universal human rights take precedence over the excluding values of an ethnic group or religion, clan, tribe, race, caste, or any other social group. All citizens must have the same rights, independently of their ethnic, religious or racial origin, etc. National discrimination must be prohibited and its acts eradicated. War criminals, perpetrators of ethnocentric and religious terror must be remanded to the international justice courts. It is necessary to eliminate the shameful legacy of colonialism and to create the conditions necessary for all peoples of the world to lead their lives with dignity.