The continuing nation

Any discussion of globalisation and internationalism raises an obvious question: what about nations? With the rise of globalisation, are nations, and nationalism, still relevant? If so, what do we say about them?

From Tibet through Kosova, Ireland, Bosnia and Israel-Palestine, nations and nationalism remain big issues right across the world. Indeed, there could even be said to have been something of a revival of nationalism in the 1990s.

Global capital can be tackled only by the unity of workers across national boundaries. Does that mean we see national struggles as irrelevant or necessarily something we cannot ever support? No.

Only on the basis of supporting national rights can we enable workers to overcome national boundaries. The national question is a question of political democracy. National 'self-determination' means that a nation may democratically decide, without being threatened with blockade or invasion, whether to form a separate state or to remain in a political union with another nation. International unity is possible only with recognised rights of self-determination - just as genuine intellectual agreement is possible only through free discussion and the right to disagree.

The Marxist commitment to international working class unity implies consistent support for the right of all nations to self-determination and for the struggles of every nation oppressed by another.

Whether we specifically support, for example, one nation breaking away from another is a practical question, the basis being whether or not it benefits the working class and international working class unity. But we support absolutely every nation's right to secede.

We support, for example, the right of Scotland, if the majority so wish, to become independent of the UK. All things being equal, however, we would be against that option, as it would tend to disrupt working class unity without lifting any major oppression.

The general principle of the right of nations to self-determination has been (mis-)used by some socialists to draw 'campist' conclusions. Some socialists have divided the world into an imperialist and an anti-imperialist camp. The anti-imperialist camp supposedly included all the Stalinist states. Resistance by the peoples of Eastern Europe and by the Afghans to the imperialism of the former USSR was then opposed on the grounds that it would weaken the struggle against imperialism! We reject that approach.

Similarly, in the recent Kosova conflict, most of the left supported the Serbian regime against the West, refusing to acknowledge Serbia's primitive imperialism, and attempted genocide, in Kosova and the Kosovars' right to self-determination. The issue for most of the left was only one of 'imperialist' states bombing a 'non-imperialist' state. We did not support NATO, but we rejected the explicit or implicit pro-Serbian (anti-Kosovar) bias of the 'stop NATO' left.

Our policy must be decided by how we defend the democratic rights of all peoples, and how, therefore, we can best unite workers across national boundaries.

We believe that the only solution to the British-Irish conflict, for example, is a free united Ireland which recognises as much regional autonomy for the distinct Protestant Irish community as is compatible with the right to self-determination of the Irish-majority Catholic people. In practice, we believe, this means some sort of federal Ireland.

We urge workers to unite around the idea of guaranteeing the rights of each of the peoples involved and thus removing communal conflict as a barrier to working class unity.

To take another example, we are for a socialist United States of the Middle East, with self-determination for minority nations like the Kurds and the Israeli Jews. We of course support the struggle of the Palestinian Arabs against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, and against discrimination inside Israel. But we reject calls (supported by much of the left) for a 'secular democratic state in all Palestine', because this desirable ideal solution is impossible until after the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been resolved and relegated to history. As an immediate proposal the slogan can only be camouflage for a programme for the subjugation of Israel by the surrounding Arab states.

Our aim is to unite all workers irrespective of nationality. But the only way to do this is to recognise national antagonisms - and promote consistent democracy to remove them as a barrier to unity.