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Image - Mahmoud Sulaiman
This article was originally published on Jun 4, 2025
In Ukraine, Moscow rejected a 30-day unconditional ceasefire and instead proposed peace talks in Turkey. Though president Trump gave the impression that Vladimir Putin might attend, the latter did not, sending instead low-level officials that once more rejected the idea of a long-term ceasefire.
In Gaza, Hamas confirmed that a new round of ceasefire talks was under way in Doha. A group official reported both sides were discussing all issues without “pre conditions”, however Israeli strikes persist and over 300 were killed in the 72-hour period following the Doha talks – one of the deadliest periods of the war since early March.
In Kashmir, India and Pakistan agreed to a US-mediated ceasefire with immediate effect. However, its longevity was questioned after reports of cross-border explosions in Indian-administered Kashmir just hours after it was announced.
These three major conflicts all emanated from some form of nationalism. An understanding of these types of nationalisms would give insight into why ceasefire attempts have been fruitless, and what a solid ceasefire could look like.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a manifestation of its imperial nationalism – an ideology intent on articulating the benefits of reforming an empire. In a book on Russian Imperialism, Taras Kuzio, professor of political science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla, details Russia’s inability to accept Ukraine as an independent country, from the time of the Tsars, throughout the USSR era and today. In the Soviet era, Russians identified themselves primarily with the USSR as whole, rather than just with the Russian Federative Republic. This explains why attempts in the 1990s to build a post-imperial Russian civic identity were unpopular, as notions of a larger community were preferred. This integration of Tsarist nationalism in Russian state building hardened its denial of the existence of Ukrainians as a distinct people even before the 2014 crisis in Crimea and the Donbas.
Because imperial nationalism is about reforming the empire, Putin is vying for a territorial deal. This has been clear from the start – in a speech on February 21st, 2022, on the day after the deployment of troops in Ukraine, Putin stated the latter was created by the Bolsheviks in 1917 and blamed Lenin for “detaching Ukraine from Russia”. This explains why Russia has no intention of returning any of the land it has seized from Ukraine. Above all, it will push for a territorial deal where it can retain influence over the annexed territories.
The ethnic nationalism that accompanied state formation in Israel in the 1940s is informed by the notions of blood and soil. The creation of Israel was anchored in the belief the nation would be a home for Jews, an ideology which justified the structural exclusions of Arab minorities. Different degrees of this nationalism inform the debate on how Israeli politicians see the end of the conflict.
For the hardliners in the Netanyahu government, Palestinian independence is seen as a direct threat to Jews. For them, the conflict is existential, and it cannot end until security of the Jewish state is guaranteed. In other words, until Hamas is destroyed. The intensified continuation of Israeli airstrikes are an attempt to “conquer” the Gaza strip to “entirely destroy” the territory and concentrate its population in the south, as declared by the hard right Israeli finance minister Smotrich.
Some liberal politicians have abandoned the idea that the home of Jewish people should be a Jewish state and have declared the only viable option to end the conflict is to grant Palestinians equal rights and citizenship in Israel. This is a rejection of the two-state solution, which according to the liberals who have advanced equal citizenship is unsustainable since a fragmented Palestinian state under Israeli control is too precarious of an arrangement.
A viable peace would see Palestinians granted equal rights, as advocated by Israeli Orthodox Rabbi Melchoir. History teaches us that violence declines as freedom of oppressed minorities increases. What makes this vision unacceptable for some Israeli politicians is their ethnic nationalism which rests on what the Israeli scholar and holocaust survivor Yehuda Elkana wrote of in 1988 : a “profound existential ‘Angst’ fed by a particular interpretation of the lessons of the Holocaust.” In other words, anything less than Jewish statehood is unsafe. However, Israeli ethnic nationalism at the start advocated a home, not a state, for Jewish people, and a home can be shared with Palestinians if they are granted equal rights.
The issue surrounding Kashmir revolves around the decision on where to place the border (the Line of Control, or LOC) that divides the state between India and Pakistan. Where the LOC is placed, and how militarized it should be is informed by the degree of religious nationalism in India and Pakistan. In 1947, the British partitioned their Empire into Hindu dominant India and Muslim dominant Pakistan. Kashmir, though predominantly Muslim, acceded to India as part of partition.
Both India and Pakistan see Kashmir as part of their territory. This makes the LOC one of the most militarised in the world, as each side is prepared to fight back immediately should the other try to attack part of their territory. Because the conflict is essentially about religiously separating two peoples by a border, peace efforts should include making the border more porous, analogous to the Good Friday Agreement in Ireland. A more porous border where trade and communication flourishes would decrease militarization. Currently, the border allows for no contact between the two sides which induces feelings of mutual suspicion making cross-border shellings an ever-present risk. This explains why the longevity of ceasefires is always unsure.
Nationalism, though unmentioned in peace negotiations, is also the permanent root cause motivating belligerents to continue warring. It must then be addressed and understood to support comprehensive ceasefires.
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