A Typology of Nationalism in Limbo Worlds

by Samuel James Chapman

Contemporary Political Ideologies, Professor Bozoki
Central European Uniersity
!inter, "#$#
%fter reading A Typology of Nationalism
1
, I &as reminded of a recent article I read
in 'oreign Policy on ()imbo !orlds* + ,uasi+states such as Palestine, -orthern Cyprus,
.ai&an, South /ssetia, Ira,i 0urdistan, and %bkhazia1 %s the title of 2eritable petri dish
of emerging democracies3 shifts from Central Eastern Europe to Eastern Europe in the
Balkans I thought it might be interesting to see if &e could fit one of these )imbo
!orlds, these ,uasi+states into 4ellner3s typological model along &ith the (&orking
definition* of a nation in the Smith chapter1 %bkhazia, population around "##,### is
situated on 4eorgia3s Black Sea Coast1 %fter a &ar in the early 5#3s, %bkhazia separated
from 4eorgia and resulted in thousands of deaths, marked by ethnic cleansing, forced
migration and 6ussian influence1 Since then it has e7isted as a limbo state &here the
,uestion of its soereign territory is ans&erable &ith ambiguity if at all1 .hey are beset on
both sides by a territorial enemy and the puppet+masters &ho recognize them as a state
&ho indeed &ant something for this recognition1 In bet&een conflict, in the process of
seeking statehood, %bkhazia is frozen in unresoled crisis and from there &e can
,uestion the role of nationalism &ithin the formation8creation of the state1
So ho& does %bkhazia stand up to 4ellner3s model9 in terms of culture, po&er, and
education: Indeed there is a uni,ue %bkhazian culture, highlighted by its language
%bkhaz that consists of ;< consonants and only one alue1 .heir culture is in tact, the
hae an identity that is reflected off a common enemy, 4eorgia, and it is bound to the
sense of struggle that is so important in the coalescing of a nationalist ideology1 %ccess to
po&er is, ho&eer is mediated through 6ussia1 %bkhazia has no real formal relations
other than 6ussia &hich still commands a great deal the po&er aailable to the potential
state1 %ccess to education is limited, but not none7istent1 .hey lie in a similar territory
and are relatiely culturally homogenous9 ho&eer if this model is e7tended outside the
informal geographical delineations &e hae a situation that is starkly heterogenous1
Some of the defects of this model may be the heay influence of 6ussian po&er and
$
!alter 6ussel =ead, Limbo World, Foreign Policy Magazine; January8'ebruary "#$# >
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fla& our typological analysis of %bkhazia, but if &e take it as access to po&er through
some means it ,ualifies1 %gain the e,ual access to modern+style education is relatie as
&ell1 If &e look at the ? possible situations in 4ellner3s typology of nationalism+
engendering and nationalism+th&arting situations it &ould seem that %bkhazia fits into
the Plamenatzian Eastern -ationalism1 .he implementation of national+sentiment did
re,uired battle@sA and diplomacy but &as not operating on (behalf of an already e7isting,
&ell+defined and codified high+culture@4ellner $#$A1* )acking in a clearly defined
cultural basis, the cultural engineering re,uired to bring the relationship bet&een state
and culture closer is suspended in this limbo &orld1 Being that 4ellner states that the
close relationship bet&een state and culture is the essence of nationalism &e &ould hae
to ,uestion the crystallization of %bkhazian nationalism at present, but depending on the
outcome of its ,uest for statehood the national imperatie may bring forth a ne& typology
of limbo &orlds1
If &e use the Bay&ood te7t to define the doctrine of nationalism it &ould appear
that %bkhazia has a nation, but not a state since it is a cultural entity, a collection of
people bound together by shared alues and traditions, common language and history and
occupying geographical area9 but does not hae a political association that enCoys
soereignty under a supreme or restricted po&er &ith ill+defined territorial borders1 If &e
apply the Smith model of seen features that define a nation &e see some gray areas and
failure to meet re,uirements D, ; and <, &hich may be able to e7plain the typology of
these limbo states, but &e &ould hae to apply this approach to similar regions like
.ransnistria1 .here are some interesting correlations bet&een the forming of a state and
the hardening of nationalist sentiments but there are other ,uestions as &ell1 Such as &hat
does the non+recognition aspect of these states do for the propulsion of nationalism, or
using national+sentiment as foreign policy capital1
.o conclude are &e looking at state+nation or nation+state: Perhaps neither but it is
clear that &e are dealing &ith a modified ersion of Eastern -ationalism1 Is nationalism
the process of the nation catching up &ith the state or ice ersa: Size does matter as
&ell, as a small country it is unclear &hether there &ill be a critical mass that galanizes
the ,uest for statehood1 )imbo &orlds e7emplify an inert nationalism, arrested
nationalism + frozen in conflict and international relations and therefore may not be able
to eole into a true nationalism as defined by 4ellner1