Lavoie 1

Christopher Lavoie

Ms. Spence

Social 20-1

December 22, 2023

Source Analysis

Source I is a quote which states that, in a globalized world, nations must come together and form

a nation-state in order to maintain their own national identity while also complying with international

rules. The quote talks about “pooling sovereignty” which is when multiple nations form a nation-state,

and in order for that nation state to function properly, the nations must make compromises with each

other. In this regard they end up giving up certain national loyalties and practices that can cause

disagreement between the nations. This source is a proponent of the idea of Multinationalism, as it speaks

about nations working together to maintain most of their national identities and at the same time adhering

with international standards and rules. The idea of nation-states described in the source can be seen in

places like Canada, where much of Canada is made up of many different nationalities, yet they live

together respectfully and peacefully but also maintain their national identities. Canada is a prime example

of this idea of Nation-states versus Israel and Palestine which are examples that shows what happens

when nations do not want to “pool their sovereignty”. These two Nations have been at conflict since

1948, neither willing to cooperate to reach an agreement of any form so they can co-exist peacefully.

Instead they each want the other nation to succumb and bow down to the other . The source addresses the

idea of how forming nation-states today is essential to maintain national identities, peace and equality

between nations. Canada, and the relationship between Israel and Palestine prove this to be true. Where

Canada is an example where a nation-state is successfully formed and Israel and Palestine are examples

where one of the two nations is bound to be screwed over due to the lack of communication, cooperation,

compromise even to the extreme of sacrificing peace for war and sacrificing innocent lives.
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Source II shows a man holding a Haitian child with the text below stating the number of people

affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The 2010 Haiti earthquake was responsible for the death, injury

and displacement of more than 3 million Haitian people. International humanitarian aid and support

poured into Haiti from various countries and organizations in the aftermath of the earthquake. These

included distributing food and clean water, search and rescue missions and medical assistance. However,

despite all this, Haiti fourteen (14) years later is still recovering from this disaster. This is because of how

poorly organized and unprepared the organizations and NGOs were when they entered Haiti. Even though

they gave short term relief, in the long term nothing much has happened. Many are still facing difficulties

caused by the earthquake. This source is screaming out to the world about how poorly coordinated and

planned the efforts to assist and rebuild Haiti have been. This kind of problem happens when an

international organization(s) only manages to aid a problem in the short term, but has no foresight to

provide assistance in the long term. Additionally, this type of aid can also leave behind more problems; it

is only a temporary help that has no lasting value. An example of such a problem is an over-dependency

on NGOs. For example, in Venezuela, hyperinflation runs rampant, the economy is in shambles and

millions have left the country. Those who remain in the country must depend on NGOs and other

international organizations in order to sustain themselves. Similar to Haiti, this is not sustainable and

needs further, long term international involvement for a more permanent solution. Otherwise, these

countries will remain broken.

Both Sources raise examples of how Internationalism has affected smaller nations in the world.

Source I shows how nations have to unify into a nation state in order to sustain themselves or end up

facing or creating more problems for themselves. Source II showed how the international community can

do as much harm as it can do good for a nation, where smaller nations like Haiti are given foreign aid by

some international organization, country or NGO then be abandoned without the underlying problems

being addressed. Today, Internationalism can heavily affect smaller or weaker nations, and it should be

the responsibility of the international community to try and help these nations get back on their feet or
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promote diplomacy and peace and have the nations make compromises with each other so

Internationalism will stop negatively affecting their nations.