General Conclusion

Summary

Despite (or due to?) increasing globalization and intensifying transnational links, nation-states still dominate both the political scene and people’s minds. In a not-so-distant past, observers and scientists alike had written off this phenomenon, but the recent surge in nationalistic ideology, activism, and policy has proven these claims to be false or at least premature. Far from becoming irrelevant, nation-states are still alive and strong. However, their structural flaws are also undeniable. One is a lack of internal coherence – and here Belgium offers an interesting case in point. In the first decades of the twenty-first century, important European nation-states struggle with serious “domestic” problems: Spain, for instance, vetoes Catalonia’s independence, while the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is confronted with Scottish nationalism and the Ulster problem. But no EU member experiences such existential threats as Belgium. Chapter 10 pointed out that its very survival is a matter of serious political debate, not just of theoretical speculation. Top politicians, opinion leaders, scholars, and ordinary citizens – all wonder whether this country, torn apart by unrelenting struggles between language communities, will be able to celebrate its two hundredth anniversary in 2030.