Nationalism and Secessionrnby Hans-Hermann HoppernWith the collapse of communism all across Eastern Europe,rnsecessionist movements are mushrooming. Therernare now more than a dozen independent states on the territoryrnof the former Soviet Union, and many of its more than 100rndifferent ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups are striving torngain independence. Yugoslavia has dissolved into various nationalrncomponents. Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia nowrnexist as independent states. The Czechs and the Slovaks havernsplit and formed independent countries. There are Germansrnin Poland, Hungarians in Slovakia, Hungarians, Macedonians,rnand Albanians in Serbia, Germans and Hungarians in Romania,rnand Turks and Macedonians in Bulgaria who all desire independence.rnThe events of Eastern Europe have also givenrnnew strength to secessionist movements in Western Europe: tornthe Scots and Irish in Great Britain, the Basques and Cataloniansrnin Spain, the Flemish in Belgium, and the South Tyroliansrnand the Lega Nord in Italy.rnFrom a global perspective, however, mankind has movedrncloser than ever before to the establishment of a world government.rnEven before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, thernUnited States had attained hegemonical status over WesternrnEurope (most notably over West Germany) and the Pacific rimrncountries (most notably over Japan)—as indicated by the presencernof American troops and military bases, by the NATO andrnSEATO pacts, by the role of the American dollar as the ultimaterninternational reserve currency and of the U.S. Federal ReservernSystem as the “lender” or “liquidity provider” of last rc-rnHans-Hermann Iloppe is a professor of economics at thernUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a senior fellow ofrnthe Ludwig von Mises histitute.rnsort for the entire Western banking system, and by institutionsrnsuch as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the WoridrnBank. Moreover, under American hegemony the political integrationrnof Western Europe has steadily advanced. With thernestablishment of a European Central Bank and a EuropeanrnCurrency Unit (ECU), the European Community will be completernbefore the turn of the century. In the absence of the SovietrnEmpire and its military threat, the United States hasrnemerged as the world’s sole and undisputed military superpower.rnA look at history reveals yet another perspective. At the beginningrnof this millennium, Europe consisted of thousands ofrnindependent territorial units. Now, only a few dozen such unitsrnremain. To be sure, decentralizing forces also existed. Therernwas the progressive disintegration of the Ottoman Empirernfrom the 16th century until after World War I and the establishmentrnof modern Turkey. The discontiguous HabsburgrnEmpire was gradually dismembered from the time of its greatestrnexpansion under Charles V until it disappeared and modernrnAustria was founded in 1918. However, the overriding tendencyrnwas in the opposite direction. For instance, during thernsecond half of the 17th century, Germany consisted of somern234 countries, 51 free cities, and 1,500 independent knightlyrnmanors. By the eariy 19th century, the total number of all threernhad fallen below 50, and by 1871 unification had beenrnachieved. The scenario in Italy was similar. Even the smallrnstates have a history of expansion and centralization. Switzerlandrnbegan in 1291 as a confederation of three independentrncantonal states. By 1848 it was a single (federal) state withrnsome two dozen cantonal provinces.rnHow should one interpret these phenomena? According tornNOVEMBER 1993/23rnrnrn