Nation and States Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Nation and States - Assignment Example Therefore, characteristics that identify a state include existence of a form of government, an organized economy, recognition of other existing states and their territorial legitimacy (White 67). The above distinctions between a state and a nation imply for instance that the Chinese, Americans, French and Swedes are nations, but China, United States of America, France, and Sweden are states (Shelley ix). Sometimes there are no clear distinctions between the two especially when countries such as the United States and India include smaller units also referred to as â€Å"states† but internationally, the these countries are still recognized as states. There are also examples where some nations and states have a close connection such as the case of most Japanese people living in state of Japan while a majority those residing in the state of Japan are also Japanese nationals. There are also cases where nations exist in more than one state in addition to a single state having several nations. This is the case for Arabs who are the many states found in North Africa and South-west Asia. Several definitions have been used to describe the Arab nation including those who are from the lineage of people ancient Arabia, those who speak Arabic as first language and having citizenship of a country that belongs to the League of Arab States. However, there is no single state for all Arab natio nals but multiple states that include Qatar, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt among others (Shelley ix). Several factors place a nation like the United States at an advantaged position over a state like Afghanistan.