CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION: INTER-
DISCIPLINARY AND GLOBAL
PERSPECTIVE OF NATIONHOOD

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin

Wan Hashim Wan Teh
FPPP
 COURSE SYLLABUS
NATIONHOOD IN WORLD POLITICS MPU3312
TOPIC 1 (17-21 Oct 2022)

Course Briefing
 TOPIC 2 (24 – 28 Oct)
POLITICAL SYSTEMS

• Evolution from tribal community to statehood and

nationhood → a natural process
• Types of government: Monarchy, Republic, Dictatorship,
Democracy, Caliphate and Sultanate, Military Junta etc.
 Topic 3 (31 Oct – 4 Nov)

PHILOSOPHY, POLITICAL THINKERS AND IDEOLOGY

Part A:

• Western and Asian Political Thinkers: Plato, Aristotle, Kautilya, Machiavelli, Thomas
Jefferson, Karl Marx, Tun Sri Lanang
• Islamic Political Thinkers: Ibnu Taymiyyah, Al-Mawardi, al-Farabi, Ibnu Khaldun, Al-
Mawdudi, Muhammad Abdu, Rashid Ridha
 TOPIC 4 ( 7- 11 Nov)
PHILOSOPHY, POLITICAL THINKERS AND IDEOLOGY:
Part B

• Islamic Political Thinkers: Ibnu Taymiyyah, Al-Mawardi, al-Farabi, Ibnu

Khaldun, Al-Mawdudi, Muhammad Abdu, Rashid Ridha
 TOPIC 5 (14 – 18 Nov)
EMPIRE AND ANCIENT STATES Part A:

• Rise and fall of empire and ancient (feudal) states

• Roman, Uthmaniah, China
 TOPIC 6 (21-25 Nov)

EMPIRE AND ANCIENT STATES Part B:

• Rise and fall of empire and ancient (feudal) states:

• India and Malacca
• The Crusade
 TOPIC 7 (28 Nov-2 Dec)
IMPERIALISM AND COLONIALISM

• Mercantilism and the struggle to discover new territories; Inter-

colonial territories rivalry through sea-routes (16th C– 19th C)
• American World Independence (18th C); The French Revolution
and the Napoleonic War (18th C)
Mid-term Break
(3-10 Dec 2022)
 TOPIC 8 (12-16 Dec )
NATIONALISM AND PATRIOTISME IN THE NEW
NATIONS

• World War I and World War II; European and Southeast Asian
Theatre
• Nationalism and the struggle for independence esp. in Asia and
Africa
 TOPIC 9 (19-23 Dec)
RISE OF SOCIALIST-COMMUNISM

• The Russian Socialist Revolution of 1917

• The World divided into Western-Liberal-Capitalist vs Socialist-
Communist nation-state
Mid-term Exam

To be confirmed
 TOPIC 10 (26–30 Dec)
RISE OF SOCIALIST-COMMUNISM

The Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949;

The World divided into Western-Liberal-Capitalist vs Socialist-
Communist nation-state
 TOPIC 11 (2–6 Jan 2023)

THE COLD WAR

• The division of east and west Germany, China, Taiwan and the wars
in Vietnam and Afghanistan
• Communist struggle to dominate elsewhere (Cuba, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Indo-China etc.)
 TOPIC 12 (9–13 Jan 2023)

CLASH OF CIVILIZATION OR ETHINIC CONFLICT?:

Part A

• The creation of Israel (1948) and The Arab-Israel-Palestine conflicts

• Muslim-Christian War in Balkans (Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia,
Croatia
• Ethnic Cleansing and ‘Islamphobia’
 TOPIC 13 (16–20 Jan 2023)

CLASH OF CIVILIZATION OR ETHINIC CONFLICT?: Part B

SEPARATIST MOVEMENT AND OTHER RECENT CONFLICTS

• Sri Lanka (Tamil Eelam) and Indonesia (Timor-Leste)
• Thailand (Malay States of South Thailand), The Philippines (autonomous
region of Mindanao)
• Sudan-South Sudan etc.
TOPIC 14 (23–27 Jan 2023)

Summing up
(28 Jan–5 Feb 2023)

Study Week
 Final Exam
(6–24 Feb 2023)
 
TEACHING METHODOLOGY :
 
Course will be conducted in class lectures. Methods of learning will include class discussion, assignments,
exercises and quizzes.
 
COURSE ASSESSMENT :
 
1. Group Assignments: 30 %
2. Presentation (assignment) 10 %
3. Midterm Exam (40 MCQs) 20 %
4. Final Exam (MCQs) 40 %
TOTAL 100 %
*Class attendance= 80%.
 
 
RULES and REGULATIONS :
 
Rules and regulation for examination refer to Peraturan Akademik UPNM.
1. INTRODUCTION
Objective :
• To expose to students the concept of nationhood
• To explain to students that the concept of nationhood
touches many disciplines of social science such as political
science, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and
economy.

 What is Nationhood?
i. Nationhood - being a nation, or a large group of people united by
common values (religion, customs, language, culture, social,
economic life).
ii. Nationhood - the study of society, culture, social forms, political and
economic patterns of a country.

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin

Wan Hashim Wan Teh
 In Social Sciences there are various branches of
knowledge: Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Political
Science, Economy and Philosophy.

 Sociology;

i. It is a scientific study of human groups.

ii It subject matters – family life to organization, divisions
of race, ethnicity, social class to the shared beliefs,
common culture, national identity, national language
and religion.
iii. Nationhood - Viewed from an angle of human
behaviour, organization, institutions and
interactions between people from different races
and
ethnicities.
Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin
Wan Hashim Wan Teh
 Anthropology ;

i. A study of human past and present, and understand the

complexity of cultures of human history. The focus point – the
application of knowledge to find solution of human problems.
iii. Also study on human language, culture, societies and behaviour of
primates.
iv. Nationhood – The approach is to study attitudes, actions and
perceptions of people in reacting to government efforts to
strengthen the construction of a nation.

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin

Wan Hashim Wan Teh
 Political Science ;

i. It is a discipline that studies on power, politics and

government. It includes administration, life, struggle, conflict

and cooperation in a country.

ii. Through knowledge of sociology, political scientists will be

exposed to background and hierarchy of a society and
patterns of life in a particular stratification.

iii. Nationhood - An analysis based on the use of power in

an administration of a country and formulate a decision
making process.

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin

Wan Hashim Wan Teh
 Philosophy;

i. A study on fundamentals of knowledge and reality, especially

when it is looked into realm as an academic discipline.

ii. Philosophy is a comprehensive system of ideas about human

nature and the nature of the reality that we live in. It is a guide
for living, because the issues addressed are basic and
pervasive, determining the course we take in life and how
we treat other people (The Atlas Society).

iii. Nationhood - Discuss about philosophic views on nation,

society and the relationship between rulers and subjects.

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin

Wan Hashim Wan Teh
2.THE ELEMENTS OF NATIONHOOD
(4 - TPIG)
i. Territory

 Every nation occupies a specific geographical area

 Hard to have a nation without territory. Ex. Jews lost their
territorial to Greek and Roman conquest two (2) millennia
ago
 War will erupt if there is overlapping in territorial claim. In
some cases, states will use military force to establish border
eg; Malaysia fought Indonesia and Filipina over Sabah
and Sarawak.

 The territory is important → determine the region of specific

nation or community. Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin
Wan Hashim Wan Teh
ii. Population

 Every state must have people within its border

 Share the common language, identity, culture and social
systems → to strengthen the national unity
 A country with a plural society or multicultural society or
multinational states, that profess different languages, religions,
and cultures, the tendency for a conflict to occur is high.
Eg: Many Soviet nationalities did not like to be ruled by
Moscow, and the consequences some of them broke
away.

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin

Wan Hashim Wan Teh
iii. Independence

 Nationhood can only be built if the country is independent

and subsequently received the sovereignty of the people.
Eg: Federation of Malaya became a nation only when the
country obtained her independence from British in
1957.
In 1962, Algeria became a nation after obtaining
independence from French

 The sovereignty of a nation will be stronger if the country got

diplomatic recognition from other countries.

 It can be done through the exchange of ambassadors and the

establishment of embassies in other countries.
iv.Government

 The purpose of building a nation → can enforce rules of

conduct and can ensure obedience.

 This organization is called as ‘government’. According to

Abdul Rashid Moten (2010), a government is;
‘The focus of the common purpose of the people
occupying a definite territory and through this medium that
common policies are determined, common affairs are
regulated and common interests promoted’

 The absence of government will bring anarchy

Eg: Afghanistan is an example of anarchy
Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin
Wan Hashim Wan Teh
3. THE CONCEPT OF NATIONHOOD
Nation-State, Nationalism and Patriotisme
 The word ‘nation’ → as race or ethnic, which means it is referred to
a large group of people welded together by ties of relationships such
as a common language, tradition and history
 The word ‘state’ → as a group of people organized by law within a
definite territory, exercising both internal and external sovereignty. It
is a political unit and characterized by sovereignty.
 The word ‘nation-state’ → a political institution that combines the
concept of nation with state. It is inhabited by people who identify
themselves as a nation due to shared values such as culture,
history, language, ethnicity (Abdul Rasyid Moten, 2010).

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin

Wan Hashim Wan Teh
 As for nation-building, it can be classified into several categories.

 Nation-building

- political domination for strengthening their own power domestically or to

politically integrate reluctant sectors of a society into an existent or would
be a nation. Then, for the purpose of external factor is to have
external relation with foreign societies or states.

 Nation building:

- can be referred as the process of establishing a united community

ethnics regardless of race or ethnicity and bonded together by shared
territory and economic activities. Every communities has to surrender
their loyalty to the country more than their loyalty to their respective
ethnic group.

 Nation-building is a strategy for economic developments. (Hippler, 2002).

Wan Norhasniah Wan Husin
Wan Hashim Wan Teh