The organization of societies into nation-states is a development that promotes democracy for many people. Language, religion and ethnicity are important factors in an individual person’s feeling that he can or cannot be a competent and effective participant in the decision-making processes of his government.
Ossetians in Georgia have felt they cannot participate as equals in their own governance because they do not speak Georgian well and because they are distrusted and dishonored simply because they have Ossetian names and other ethnic characteristics. This Ossetian alienation is based on long experience of dealing with ordinary Georgians, many of whom stereotype Ossetians as uncultured, criminal, anti-Georgian traitors.
It is difficult, but not impossible, to overcome such alienating attitudes. Certaintly the Ossetians and Georgians have failed to do so, even though many in the Georgian and Ossetian leaderships had the right intentions and capabilities. At a crucial moment, those leaders apparently lost control to radicals on both sides.
It’s important to keep our eyes on the ball, which is liberal democracy. Social organizations based on common language, religions and ethnicities can be positive factors promoting larger trends toward liberal democracy, but sometimes they can become negative factors too.
There is nothing inherently wrong when a person attaches his own loyalties to concepts other than language, religion, ethnicity or country. If someone perceives himself to be primarily a European rather than a German or perceives himself to be primarily a member of a new and developing supra-national order, he should not be dismissed reflexively as a fool. Each individual sees his own place in the world differently, depending on his own relationships, experiences and capabilities.
Nationalists don’t enjoy a monopoly on ability or willingness to deal effectively with the world’s current conflicts. In general, nationalists do some actions relatively well and some things relatively less well. The same can be said about inter-nationalists, supra-nationalists, religious believers, atheists, private entrepreneurs, public-organization officials, and so forth and so on.
These relative capabilities develop. It is true that right now there is no really effective military force commanded by any inter-national organization such as the United Nations or the European Union. It is also true that right now no nation-state, except for the USA, can project military force effectively more than a few dozen miles beyond its own borders.
