To what extent is the conceptof nationalism useful for understanding contemporary political geography? Useexamples to illustrate your answer.In order to analyse to what extent the concept of nationalism is useful for understating contemporary political geography, it is important to define what is meant by the concepts. Nationalism can be defined as an ‘identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests.’ (Dictionaries, 2018) However, the concept of nationalism is much more complexed and I intend to expand on this during the course of the essay.  When discussing political geography it refers to ‘the branch of geography that deals with the boundaries, divisions, and possessions of states.’ (Dictionaries, 2018) With the key concepts defined it allows us to examine the question in depth. In this essay I intend to demonstrate, using a variety of examples that the concept of nationalism forms a core foundation in several contemporary debates in political geography and thus it can be useful to understanding it. Oneof the main reasons that nationalism has become present in contemporarypolitical geography is due to geographical reasons.  It can be concluded that those countries witha stronger sense of national identity have a more isolationist approach andplace the benefits of their own countries above that of everything else. It isevident that geographical location plays a large part in a countries sense ofnational identity. Britain has already acquired a strong sense of nationalidentity, however, many argue that this sense of national identity hasdeveloped further due to its geographical location – they have no borderingnations. This concept is also visible in other countries with few borderingnations such as the USA. (Agnew, et al., 2003)This isolation meansthat they form more nationalist viewpoints which as I will demonstrate has adirect impact of contemporary political debates. Nationalismhas also come about in contemporary political geography due to historicalreasons which have, again, led to nationalist viewpoint and approaches and thusimpacted several contemporary political debates. Using the example of Europe,it becomes clear to see that certain countries overtime have become dominantthrough their military power and strong trade links. Countries have fought forauthority and those that have come out on top such as Britain can see thisreflected in their national identity, which is one of pride. Their dominanceover Europe has led the country to have an isolationist approach tocontemporary political geography issues. In contrast, those countries in Europe such as France which has overhistory suffered greatly from its vulnerability and military weakness has ledto them needed strong ties with its neighbouring countries in order to helpprotect themselves. This has meant that over time their sense of nationalidentity has diminished. This is reflected in contemporary political geographyissues as they are certainly more open to changes, such as further integrationin Europe and the issues surrounding asylum seekers, than countries with astronger sense of national identity such as Britain. (Agnew, et al., 2003) Britain’s politicalstability has remained similar over time and this is what has brought aboutsuch a strong sense of national identity. Inthe context of nationalism and contemporary political geography the currentissues faced in regards to integration in Europe are a prime example of anissue in which the two concepts are present. The concept of nationalism is apparent here because while some are encouragingan improvement in integration, others are concerned that this will decreaseindividual state sovereignty.  It can beconcluded that state sovereignty is one of the key aspects of nationalism. Ithas allowed each nation to govern itself and have its own authority, electionshave made people feel part of the governance of their own nation and thus hasallowed each nation to develop its own sense of national identity. For example,over history, Britain and its national sovereignty has allowed it to rule overits empire and colonies. This has led to a strong sense of national identitywithin the nation and a cautious view towards European integration. (Adler-Nissen, 2015) Political geographyis present in this debate because it concerns the boundaries of states. In thisexample there are many who argue that a more integrated Europe should be one inwhich boundaries are broken down between nations, allowing the free movement ofgoods and labour.  On asimilar line to this, the current debate surrounding asylum seekers and thecontrol of European Union borders is one in which nationalism forms a centralbasis. It occurs across almost every country in the world and has become asignificant issue in current political geography debates. The movement ofpeople across borders has always caused conflict due to the negative representationsof asylum seekers. (Manara, 2018)These negative representations of asylumseekers are ultimately aimed at protecting individual state sovereignty.(Appendix 1) A prime example of this is in the UK, one of the main drivingforces behind ensuring votes to ‘leave’ Brexit was to implement strictercriteria in relation to asylum and immigration. In 2016, 75% of potential‘leave’ voters mentioned immigration as the most important issue, this was at atime in which asylum seekers were arriving to the UK at near-record levels. (Hirschler,2017) The concept of nationalism is evidenthere because the UK was more concerned about protecting its individual statesovereignty and economy rather than helping refugee’s during the crisis.Environmentalissues also play a key part in current political geographical debates, inparticular global warming and destruction of rainforests.  Climate change has profound implications forthe future of the planet. In relation to political geography the debate iswhether those countries who are responsible for climate change should beobliged to contribute more into the Green Climate Fund. (Goodwin,2014)This is because it has been proven that emissions produced by these countriesare affecting not only the whole earth but in particular those countries withintheir borders. Since President Trump announced the United States withdraw fromParis Agreement in 2017, there have been several debates. The United States isresponsible for almost a third of the excess carbon dioxide that is heating theplanet. (Appendix 2) The nationalist view of President Trump here was that thecontributions the country was making as part of the Paris Agreement wasaffecting the United States economy. However, the counter argument is that thelarge role the United States has played in causing climate change creates anoutsize responsibility to help control the issue.Afurther example of an environmental issue in contemporary political geographyis the destruction of the rainforests. At the centre of this debate is SouthAmerica, here most deforestation takes place because of their need foragricultural land. (Goodwin, 2014) In poor countries such as South Americapeople very often turn to agriculture in order to make money to meet every dayneeds of living. The farmers migrate to agricultural settlement areas, and cutdown several acres of land to use for farming. The stumps are burnt whichreleases the nutrients into the soil that are needed to grow crops. Thenationalist view here is that it is a source of income and helps boost thenation’s economy and that the forests are within the nation’s border. However,the argument is that it is affecting the entire planet as it is adding toclimate change and the greenhouse effect to the large scale destruction. Notonly does it affect climate change but also wildlife.  ‘It is obvious that there is no clear solutionto these problems, but the result of nationalism in this sense, on the worldcould be disastrous.’ Nationalismhas been a concept which has appeared throughout the ongoing political issueslinked to immigration in Europe. It was one of the main reasons behind thechoice that Britain made to leave the European Union in 2017. The EuropeanUnion allows people to have free movement between the countries, and althoughmany people would see this as a benefit it can be argued that Britain did not.Perhaps this was because of the countries strong sense of nationalism andrepresentations of asylum seekers in the British media which meant thatcitizens would see the arrival of immigrants as a hindrance on the Britisheconomy. Many British people believed that it was unfair that workers who wereunskilled and unable to support themselves were moving to the country and beingsupported by the government. (Delanty & O’Mahony, 2002)  I believe that this sense of nationalism can,again, be contributed to Britain’s isolationist approach. Ex Tory LeaderWilliam Hague defined the British nationalist approach in one of hisinterviews. In which his response to the immigration dilemma was that ‘first wemust learn to look after our own people, then we can look at helpingothers.’  This has been a statement whichhas symbolised many of Britain’s nationalistic tendencies.Onefinal example of where it is apparent that nationalism is at the core to acontemporary political geography issue is over world economy, in particular thesubject of poverty. It becomes apparent from the previous examples that acountries national interests always dominate other factors to contemporarypolitical geography issues and it is no different here. It is well known thatover the past years, the world’s wealthiest countries have been exploitingthird world countries for their own economic benefits. (Delanty &O’Mahony, 2002)For example, countries such as the United States and United Kingdom havebenefited from the exploitation of labour forces in third world countries, suchas Africa, as it allows them to increase profit on trade goods.  Nationalism is evident here as countries suchas the US and UK are accepting the exploitation of third world countries inorder to benefit their economies and increase profit maximisation. However,this in turn increases the amount of debt and poverty experienced in thirdworld countries. The political debate surrounding this issue is that there aretwo standards. In the developing world, a minimum wage is required whereas inthe underdeveloped world it can be said that they are being exploited in orderto make more money. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons why disparityexists in the world and nationalism is the cause, which priorities its owneconomic benefits above that of equality. Inconclusion, from the examples discussed above it becomes clear to see thatnationalism forms a core foundation in several current political geographyissues. Whether it is environmental or social issues they all unanimously pointto nationalism as the centre topic. Therefore from this it can be concludedthat nationalism is extremely useful to understanding a wide range ofcontemporary political geography issues. Nationalism is both a symptom and acause of contemporary political geography issues, due to countries prioritisingtheir own interest above all else.  Thereare many contemporary political geography issues relating to nationalism whichneed to be addressed in order for them to be resolved. BibliographyAdler-Nissen, R.,2015. Opting out of the European Union: diplomacy, sovereignty and Europeanintegration.. International Affairs, 91(4), pp. 897-899.Agnew, J. A., Toal, G. & Mitchell, K., 2003. Acompanion to Political Geography. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Delanty, G. & O’Mahony, P., 2002. Nationalism and Social Theory: Modernity and the Recalcitrance of the Nation. London: Sage Publications.Dictionaries, O., 2018. Oxford Dictionaries. [Online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/nationalism [Accessed 16 April 2018].Dictionaries, O., 2018. Oxford Dictionaries. [Online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/political_geography [Accessed 16 April 2018].Goodwin, B., 2014. Using Political Ideas. 6th ed. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Hirschler, S., 2017. Brexit, immigration and expanded markets of social control. Safer Communities, 16(4), pp. 176-185.Insitute, W. R., 2016. World Resoruces Insitute, London: World Resources Insitute.Manara, M., 2018. The depoliticisation of asylum seekers. Political Geography, Volume 64, pp. 43-52.Periwal, S., 1995. Notions of Nationalism. London: Central European University Press Book.Stewart, H., 2016. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants [Accessed 19 April 2018].Appendix 1 (Stewart, 2016)Appendix 2 (Insitute, 2016) Get Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more