International Politics

 WHO ARE WE by Samuel P. Hunnington

Summary: This article says that the only way we can develop an identity is by being around other people because you naturally compare your similarities and differences. If you look at a baby, that child has a name, sex, parentage, and citizenship that only become a part of the baby's identity, after the child is conscious and aware of them. Group identities are important because they allow an individual to find and redefine their identity. Some group identities are very fixed and unable to bend to accommodate. Both groups and individuals have multiple identities. Also, identities can change due to time and how others perceive that individual or group. For example, if a country view certain minorities as inferior, that group may develop a sense of inferiority into their overall identity. Therefore, your identity is very dependent on others' acceptance of you. 

"Humans, Freud argued, have only two types of instincts, “those which seek to preserve and unite… and those who seek to destroy and kill.” Both are essential and they operate in conjunction with each other. Hence, “there is no use in trying to get rid of men’s aggressive inclinations.” This article also talks about the difficulty of defining citizenship. Immigration can make it difficult to define one's national identity. A divided country also makes national identity difficult to define.

Since identity is inherently competitive, it is not very surprising that research has shown that people prefer to be worse off overall if it means that their enemy isn't better off. Enemies have to be like you in some way because soccer teams are not rivals for hockey teams. However, since people are usually involved in multiple groups, lasting peace between all groups is remote. People may reject the identity of the groups they are apart of due to bad employers or conflicting demands. Intensities in identities also differ. For instance, most people identify more intensely with their family than their political group.

Michael Howard argued that no nation is born without war. Scholars say that there are two types of nationalism and national identity. One is good and one is bad. Hitler's Germany is an example of bad nationalism. The intensity of national identity is ordinarily dependent upon territory, culture, politics, and occasionally economic and social networks.