New States in World Politics - Essay Example

A new state can be defined as one whose people have acquired through any means,constitutional or war,complete independence in the way they carry their social-political and social economic activities.According to Albert, Brock and Wolff,civilisation has also led to new states being formed,as more nations have demanded self governemnt from their former states. In the wake of the World War II, there were numerous new states which arose. Similarly, after the world war, the struggle for independence in African and Asian countries, led by former World War II veterans who had been taken from European colonies in Africa and Asia, led to numerous new states in African and Asia.

While these formations of these states led to the terms new states, these states are now all over fifty years old. Yet, new states seem to continue to blossom every now and then, the most recent example being south Sudan. Formation of new states has continued to reshape world politics in various ways. The major factor affecting the way new states continue to reshape global politics can be seen in the form of the special relationship between a state and a nation. While in common language, the words state and nation are used interchangeably by the lay man, from a political science point of view, it is clear that these two terms are completely different and that they may mean two different things.

In a nutshell, state refers to a collection of people who are joined together by a political ideology. These people may not have any social or spiritual connection or oneness. On the other hand, a nation is made of communities who share their spiritual or social values and beliefs (Duncan, Webster & Switky, 2008). Although in many cases the existence of a state coincides with the existence of a nation, it is not always so. In this regard, where there is a discrepancy between the nation and state, the political surrounding that kind of state, both nationally and internationally has a problem.

In cases where a state overlaps two or more nations, the state is likely to have internal rows leading to civil wars. The main cause for this is that the nations in the state may not share the same values, and this may lead to the people fighting over values, resources or just general politics. On the other hand, where a nation goes beyond the borders of ne state, the two states containing parts of single nations will most likely to have wars with each other. The formation of new states therefore has a very fundamental role in reshaping international politics (Teller, et al, 1964).

A very good example is the demarcation of Sudan to make south Sudan and Sudan states. The issues that had existed for a long time in the former Sudan were the fact that it was one state which contained two nations, on in the northern part of the country and the other in the southern parts of the nation. Once the two states were separated to make two distinct states, the issue of civil war was overcome. However, this did not guarantee that that the two nations would stop having quarrels. The separation of the two states actually led to some misunderstandings which today are not only affecting the two nations but also international politics (Albert, Brock, and Wolff, 2000).

In this regard, t is possible to look at the various ways in which the formation of new nations affects international politics; New alliances With the formation of new states, two things always happen. First, it is good to note that new states are not formed from thin air, rather, they are formed from existing states and the process is always bloody (McCormick, 2011). While in some cases, the formation of new nations can be achieved through strong constitutional rules like was the case for India, the truth is that in over 90% of the new nations are made from bloody processes such as civil wars (in the case for Sudan), or militia wars against existing governments such as the in the struggle for independence in Africa.