Nationalism vs. Patriotism and International Hotspots

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Patriotism – loyalty and support for one’s country. It is the belief that citizens should obey their country’s laws and rally to its defense. How do you define patriotism?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Nationalism– the belief that each people or ethnic group, known as a “nation,” should have its own government and nation-state. Nationalism is often the belief that one’s country is among the very best countries in the world. Some nationalists feel that their country is so superior that they have the right to take territory from or to even rule over others. How do you define nationalism?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Imagine a country is attacked. How would people with patriotic feelings probably react to this travesty? What are some examples of countries that react with patriotic feelings?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Imagine a different country is attacked. How would people with nationalist feelings probably react to this travesty? What are some examples of countries that react with nationalist feelings?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Bastille Day celebration in France Countries throughout Europe celebrate Bastille Day. Bastille Day is a celebration of the day that the French stormed the Bastille fortress-prison on July 14, This storming is seen as the uprising of a modern nation and the reconciliation of the leaders in the French monarchy. Why is Bastille Day considered a day of celebration in France? a celebration How is this celebration a day of patriotism? What similar holidays are celebrated around the world? Is this a picture of patriotism or nationalism? Why?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Patriotism or nationalism? Why?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Watch the video about a Nazi Youth Rally. Take notes of examples of nationalism that you see throughout the video. What strategies does Hitler use to build such a strong sense of nationalism in the youth?

Should the government ban all cell phone use in moving vehicles? Should the government be allowed to read s and texts in the interest of national security? Should the government get rid of social security? Should the government ban the sale of hand guns? Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

International “Hot Spots” Russia and Chechnya Israel and Palestine Iran and Nuclear Energy Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

Russia and Chechnya Directions: Students will need the assignment called “Crisis in Chechnya.” The next 4 slides can be shown on the screen or printed for student use. Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

Can you identify Chechnya?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Background: The Soviet Union was formed after the Russian Revolution in In 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved into several independent states. The largest of these states was Russia. There are many ethnic minorities in Russia still. The Chechens are one of these minority groups. They live near the Caucasus Mountains. During WWII, the Chechens sided with Germany. Stalin heard about this and deported many of them to Siberia. The 800,000 Chechens that were deported were allowed back to Chechnya following the death of Stalin in The strong sense of Chechnya nationalism is a result of the struggles that the people of the country faced after WWII. The sentiment of the Sunni Muslim Chechens is a stronger hatred of Russia than many of the other Russian territories They have fought for independence from Russia many times. Separatists have declared independence and instigated terrorist bombings. The Russian army has used force against Chechnya to try to regain order. So…who is right? Should Chechnya be an independent country or should they have to stay with Russia?

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. The Chechen Viewpoint The Chechen people have a long history of fighting against foreign rule. They consider Russia to be foreign because the Chechen’s have their own language and traditions that are different than that of the Russians. Chechnya has been struggling for independence for many years. When the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991 many Soviet federations gained independence. Chechnya tried for independence also but Boris Yeltsin denied their request. The Chechens had an uprising and the Russian military was sent in. In 1994 Russia invaded Chechnya again and a bloody, deadly war ensued. 80,000 Chechens were killed in this battle and the Russian army looked ill prepared and equipped. Chechen militias lost control and local warlords began to take over. Following more battles in 1999, the Chechens were perceived with racist sentiments and blamed for a series of bombings in Moscow that killed 300 people. The new president, Vladimir Putin, led a full scale, brutal attack on Chechnya. Half of the 1.3 million residents were said to have fled the country. The European Union and the G8 threatened to isolate Moscow if the brutal attacks on innocent civilians continued. The Human Rights Watch continues to monitor the situation and has found evidence of torture, murder and abuse by the Russian army. The Chechen president has offered a cease fire and over time rebels have continued to fight the Russians for independence. Tensions are still very high as most Chechnya citizens still want independence from Russia.

Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. The Russian Viewpoint The Russians have pointed out before that every country has minority groups that would like to become an independent country. If every group was allowed to secede the world would be all mini-states. If the Russians granted Chechens independence than all of the other minority groups would want to become independent also. Another reason Russia does not want Chechnya to become independent is because the Chechens have used terrorism in their efforts to gain independence. In 2004, they bombed a school and killed almost 200 students. They have also been linked to Al Qaeda. There are many ethnic Russians living in Chechnya and Russians are fearful that they will be abused if Chechnya were to secede. A final reason that Russia may not want Chechnya to secede is because of the significant amount of oil that comes from this area. A major oil pipeline runs across Chechnya to the Ukraine. Grozny, Chechnya has a major oil refinery in it. This refinery is important to Russia because so much oil is processed there. Russia takes great care to make sure that western countries are not involved. As long as Chechnya is par of Russia, Moscow will have a say in the oil that runs through it.

Israel and Palestine Refer to the lessons on the Planner for this topic. It has been addressed several times over the course of the year. Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

Iran and Nuclear Energy Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

Background Information Many world leaders believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons and claiming that they are only building nuclear power to help with energy in their country. The United States and the United Nations have enforced strict sanctions against Iran for continuing with their nuclear enrichment program. Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. What is a sanction? What is an example of an economic sanction? What is an example of a political sanction?

Iran’s View Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Iranians claim they are a major power in the Middle East. They also claim that they are building nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes. The peaceful purposes include a source for future energy and for radiation therapy for cancer patients. Iran’s religious leaders have actually issued a decree banning nuclear weapons. Iran also feels that it is hypocritical of the United States and other countries to ban weapons in Iran when they have them in their country. Arak Heavy Water Plant - Heavy water is used to moderate the nuclear fission chain reaction either in a certain type of reactor.

Iran’s View Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Iran's President Ahmadinejad, during an interview with NBC anchor Brian Willians in July 2008, also dismissed the utility of nuclear weapons as a source of security and stated: “Again, did nuclear arms help the Soviet Union from falling and disintegrating? For that matter, did a nuclear bomb help the U.S. to prevail inside Iraq or Afghanistan, for that matter? Nuclear bombs belong to the 20th century. We are living in a new century... Nuclear energy must not be equaled to a nuclear bomb. This is a disservice to the society of man.”

Iran’s View Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. And according Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation: “In matters of national security we are not timid. We will assert our intentions. If nuclear weapons would have brought security, we would have announced to the world that we would go after them... We do not think a nuclear Iran would be stronger... If we have weapons of mass destruction we are not going to use them – we cannot. We did not use chemical weapons against Iraq. Secondly, we do not feel any real threat from our neighbours. Pakistan and the Persian Gulf, we have no particular problems with them, nor with Afghanistan. The only powerful country is Russia in the north, and no matter how many nuclear weapons we had we could not match Russia. Israel, our next neighbour, we do not consider an entity by itself but as part of the US. Facing Israel means facing the US. We cannot match the US. We do not have strategic differences with our neighbours, including Turkey.”

The View of Iran’s Critics Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved. Critics of Iran believe that Iran is gathering uranium so they can create nuclear weapons. Many people wonder why Iran would need to have nuclear energy when they are sitting on a wealth of oil that can be used for energy. There are also concerns from critics that Iran has an untrustworthy government. It has used brutal force against peacefully protesting citizens. Another fear is that Iran would use their nuclear weapons against Israel or that they might sell the weapons to Islamic terrorists. The Middle East is already an area with unrest and turmoil. Nuclear weapons in the area could further increase that. In the past Iran has repeatedly violated United Nation rules. Because Iran is considered to be powerful in the Middle East there is also fear that if they had nuclear weapons that other countries might want to obtain them also to keep the balance of power in the region.

So…what is the solution? Should Iran be able to develop nuclear energy like the rest of the world? View the next two maps regarding nuclear power and nuclear weapons before answering the question. Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

Map used with permission from Ben Hennig at

Chapter Study Cards To make good decisions, government officials should: – – The Importance of Different Viewpoints – Citizenship Practices – Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

Chapter Study Cards Cultural Beliefs Cultural Beliefs – Patriotism – Nationalism – Case Studies of Contemporary Challenges Terrorism – Russian and Chechnya – Israel and Palestine – Iran and Nuclear Energy - Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.

Answer the following Questions How are government decisions made? How do citizens participate in government? How are government policies shaped by cultural beliefs? How are government decisions and international issues often influenced by different points of view? Property of Garland ISD. All rights reserved.