[tsimionescu]

It does have a particular meaning, but it is one that's not relevant in this context, and it's probably narrower than what the poster intended. For example, Belgium is not a nation state, but I'm sure the GGP would be surprised by an answer like "no, it wasn't a nation state, Belgium asked them to do it".

[meiuqer]

What do you mean by 'Belgium is not a nation state', if i may ask?

[bonoboTP]

They probably mean that Belgium consists of French-speaking and Dutch-speaking (and German-speaking) groups, which the person counts as separate nations, hence Belgium not being one nation.

This is mostly a language confusion for non-native English speakers. Nation, country, state, a people, nationality, ethnicity, citizenship etc. are used in confusing ways for speakers of other languages.

For many, "nation state" just means an independent state (roughly speaking, a UN member, note also that the UN is called United Nations), because just saying "state" could mean a subdivision, such as a US state. And "country" can be confused with the subdivision of the UK (they call, e.g. Scotland a "country").

In more precise contexts of political history, "nation state" mostly refers to modern (post-World War I) countries that more or less correspond to a people speaking the same language and having the same ethnic identity. It delineates nation states from the previously more common multi-ethnic empires and kingdoms, such as Austria-Hungary or the Holy Roman Empire etc.

Similarly, in English, nationality is often an exact synonym for citizenship, while speakers of other languages expect it to mean ethnicity, e.g. an ethnic Hungarian in Romania with Romanian citizenship would be considered a "Romanian national" in English-language news. This often makes people confused/angry. Also, in some contexts in English, "ethnicity" is more like a euphemism for something like "race", but not quite (e.g. in the US "Latino" is considered an "ethnicity" but not a race). In that sense "Hungarian" would not count as an "ethnicity" at all, but still phrases like "ethnic Slovak" refer to a minority group in a different country than Slovakia. But also "ethnic" can also just mean with "exotic foreign origin", e.g. "ethnic food" or "an ethnic woman" (this was really weird when I first read it). But I digress.

[rkomorn]

I think you're spot on with this:

> ... because just saying "state" could mean a subdivision, such as a US state ...

[tsimionescu]

I mean that there is no Belgian nation - native Belgian citizens are mostly either Dutch-speaking Flemish people or French-speaking Wallons, and generally don't have any significant notion of a shared national identity.

Note that this doesn't mean that a state with multiple ethnicities/languages can't be a nation state. Indians, for example, generally have a clear national identity, despite being citizens of a huge federal republic with dozens if not hundreds of languages spoken, some of which don't even share a common language family. So, India is a nation state, unlike Belgium.

[meiuqer]

I don't know if i agree that Belgians don't have a national identity. I just think that the Flemish nationalist parties push the Flemish nationality identity so hard that Flemish people more identify as Flemish then as Belgian.

However Walloon people definitely feel Belgian and have a Belgian pride.

Also, i don't know if a nation state is defined by having a national identity?

[tmtvl]

Belgium may be used as a stand-in for Brussels, i.e. the European Union.

[stonogo]

But it isn't, here. The state of Belgium created itself by secession from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and its populace generally comprises two nations, Flanders (Flemish) and Wallonia (French), neither of which are continguous with the state, nor particularly interested in sharing a national identity with each other.

In short, a state is about turf, and a nation is a people, and you need them both to look similar on a map to make a nation-state.

[e-v]

I think the author of the post was referring to the fact that Belgium is a multinational state, comprised of Dutch-speaking Flanders and French-speaking Wallonia.

[rkomorn]

I've heard Brussels as a stand-in for the EU.

I've never heard Belgium as a stand-in-for-Brussels-as-a-stand-in for EU.

[metabagel]

TIL