Uncertainty, ambiguity, insecurity, hatred, disdain, tyranny, massacre, conspiracy and war; these are the gifts of politics and I believe that it has yet to bless humanity more. The sages of the political world might have considered politics as a panacea but I think on the contrary. I claim that politics has turned into something that is nothing more than an evil game. It is the product of cunning minds, the output of self-centered motives, the aftermath of the desires of power of the tyrants, the conspiracy of the shrewd, the repercussion of the struggle of the egoists, the result of the tyrannies of the monarchs, aristocrats and dictators, the hypocrisy of the democrats, the myth of the nationalists and the illusion of the internationalists.

The political ideologies and philosophies have blessed human with countless myths and illusions and among them nationalism and internationalism are the most prominent ones. Nationalism promises to build a firm belief of unity and coherence among the members of a single race, or culture, but it can be easily observed that members of a single race, religion or culture do not have the homogeneity of thoughts, ideas and beliefs which nationalism presumes. Variety of concentrations and biases are found within the members of a single collectivity, which is called nation. Within a single nation people with heterogeneous ideas and inclinations can be found. Within a single nation few are rich while others poor and there is a gulf of distinction between their ways of living and filters of thoughts. Within a single nation different groups with different dedications and objectives can be traced. Within a single nation people with different intensity of beliefs and different interpretations of ethical values can be found. And the most fascinating fact is that within a single nation different definitions of nation and nationalism can be traced. So the question is, “Why to call it a nation at all?” What the intellectuals call nation is nothing more than a collectivity of varied individuals with distinct thoughts, ideas, beliefs and doctrines. Arthur Schopenhauer rightly mentions in his Essays and Aphorisms, “Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.” 

These were some of the basic criticism regarding nationalism but there are many controversial aspects of the term internationalism as well. Internationalism seems to be a very attractive term and it has gained much value as the world has shrunk and human beings have come closer to one another and as the modern human beings have developed the concept of globalization. Though this term is gravitating it is too vague to go through the test of validity and acceptability. It is just an eye wash, designed by the political lords to dodge the innocent beings of the world. A person may feel proud to be called a world citizen, but does he really become a world citizen if he calls himself so, or even others call him so. No, he does not become one by the mere insistence by him or by his friends. It is difficult that a person becomes a true citizen of a single country in the true sense of the word as in that country he may not have all the rights of a citizen and he may not be able to perform the responsibility of a true citizen.

G.K. Chesterton even believed that “Internationalism is in any case hostile to democracy….The only purely popular government is local, and founded on local knowledge. The citizens can rule the city because they know the city; but it will always be an exceptional sort of citizen who has or claims the right to rule over ten cities, and these remote and altogether alien cities…To make all politics cosmopolitan is to create an aristocracy of globe-trotters”. 

I know there have been many situations in history when a nation has risen for a particular political objective; there have been many situations when international community has acquired certain homogeneity but such coherences and homogeneities have only been temporary. They were machinated and designed by political lords for their egocentric motives. They were the myths created by them to blindfold the innocent humans so that they should serve as catalysts for their political experiments and ultimately result into attainment of their objectives tirelessly. Who doesn’t know that the Roman Monarch, with the slogan of internationalism, utilized the capacities of Romans for the attainment of their own desires? Who doesn’t know that the Italian Fascist leaders, with the slogan of nationalism, utilized the potentials of the common masses for turning their own dreams into realities? Who doesn’t know that the German Nazis, with the slogans of superior German race, designed an illusion to dodge the common people? Who doesn’t know that European politicians, with the slogan of globalization, threatened the existence of entire humanity? Who doesn’t know that today the world powers, in disguise of democratic world, has only fed their industrialists with the reservoirs of mineral resources and her weapon industries with the opportunities of countless experiments?

Both nationalism and internationalism can only be attained through a universal love for humanity, through the ultimate belief in the existence through the firm belief in the ubiquitous spirit of the living, through the omnipotence of an emotion that makes one all and makes all one. As the famous singer John Lennon had said, “Imagine there's no countries… It isn't hard to do… Nothing to kill or die for… And no religion too… Imagine all the people… Living life in peace… You may say that I'm a dreamer… But I'm not the only one… I hope someday you'll join us… And the world will be as one”