> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.nationalism.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.nationalism.io/nationalism/territorial-approaches.md). # Territorial approaches Ancestral nationalism can be a compelling political solution for resolving many of the problems with civic nationalism. A core argument for this is that ancestral nationalism may provide a more reliable framework for protecting the continuity of a nation-state’s distinct identity and culture. Adopted more broadly, ancestral nationalist systems could help with protecting the global diversity of different identities and cultures. Many long-established nation-states that are currently civic nationalist could benefit from transitioning over to ancestral nationalism to better protect their distinct identities and cultures. However, we cannot accurately predict whether the adoption of ancestral nationalism will be successful. A democratic process like a referendum to adopt ancestral nationalism could still be unsuccessful. This is why we must consider alternative solutions that could be used alongside or in replacement to ancestral nationalism, solutions that could help achieve similar outcomes. The same tools could also support the creation of new societies, where civic nationalism may be more suitable. A number of approaches could be used to protect existing societies or to experiment with building new ones. This can range from solutions that focus more on economic freedom through to ideas that give a lot more political autonomy. Some of these approaches worth considering include local communities, special economic zones, charter cities, special administrative regions, autonomous regions, federal units, freely associated states and fully sovereign states. ## **Local communities** Groups could form local communities in a multitude of ways. Communities could form in existing towns and cities and blend in with existing populations. A group could purchase their own land and buildings to live in a similar area. These types of communities might not have any formal protections and are simply self-organised. Some local communities could also be protected, a group could set up a protected community and this could result in the adoption of policies where future purchases of the buildings in that area need to be approved by that community. Other groups might want to set up a gated community so that others cannot access their residential area without approval. These types of protected communities would need to have the right regulations and policies in place so that people can legitimately set up these types of communities. ## **Territories for experimentation** Groups could also set up a more formalised community to experiment with different ideas. Examples include special economic zones, charter cities or special administrative regions. These solutions could be useful for setting up and experimenting with new institutions or building new societies within an existing nation-state. A special economic zone is an area designated for targeted economic growth under special policy rules designed to encourage investment, industry, trade or infrastructure development. These zones may offer tax incentives, customs advantages, simplified regulation, fast-track permits, infrastructure support, export-oriented rules and investment protections. The defining feature is economic special treatment instead of broad political self-government. A charter city is a city or new urban area that operates under a special legal or administrative framework set out in a charter. The idea is that it can use different rules from the rest of the country in order to improve governance, attract investment or experiment with new institutions. That charter might define how the city is governed, tax rules, business regulation, land use rules, policing or courts in some cases and what infrastructure and development powers it will have. A special administrative region is a territory within a country that has a distinct legal and political status different from the rest of the country. This could be much broader than a charter city. A special administrative region may have its own legislature, separate legal rules, different economic policy, language protections, separate immigration or border arrangements in rare cases and greater control over internal administration. The defining feature is special constitutional or legal status for a territory, something that is different from the normal system being used in the country. ## **Autonomous territories** Autonomous regions and federal units are some examples of longer term solutions. Many existing nation-states already use these types of approaches to provide more localised political and economic autonomy, enabling these territories to make certain decisions without external influence. An autonomous region is a distinct region that gets its own elected institutions and legal powers while remaining part of the larger state. Scotland in the United Kingdom is an example region with its own autonomy. Federalism is a system that constitutionally divides power between the central government and federal units. Russia, Canada, Germany and the United States are all examples of countries that use federalism. ## **Fully sovereign states** There are currently around 193 widely recognised sovereign states. Some of these sovereign states have been around for hundreds of years and their populations often for even longer. Some sovereign states decide to become freely associated with other sovereign states. Freely associated states are self-governing political entities that maintain a voluntary formal relationship with another sovereign state, usually under a compact or agreement that lets them govern their own internal affairs while delegating or sharing certain functions such as defence, foreign affairs, citizenship arrangements or economic support. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is one example that has compacts of free association with the United States. Beyond the sovereign states that already exist today there is still an opportunity to consider the creation of new nation-states in the future. Although the creation of nation-states is theoretically possible it is still highly unlikely in the present day. The international system generally prioritises territorial integrity and stability, which makes recognition of new states difficult. Secession is often seen as dangerous, destabilising and hard to legitimise. ## **Ancestral nationalism at the national level** At the national level, ancestral nationalism can mean the state exists as the political home for a specific people. Its primary moral duty is the survival and flourishing of that specific ancestral population. Citizenship is a birthright that is tied to ancestry. One example of how ancestral nationalism could function in the government is through an ancestrally governed state. In these situations only the long-established ancestral population would be able to vote or become representatives in government. Beyond national solutions it is also useful to consider how these other territorial approaches could be used to achieve the goals of ancestral nationalism within a society that is civic nationalist. This is important as there is no guarantee that civic nationalist societies will move closer towards ancestral nationalism in the future at the national level. Ancestral nationalist leaning ideas could be adopted within civic nationalist countries in the following ways: * **Local communities** - Neighbours share an ancestral background, allowing for the organic preservation of identity, culture and norms. Local communities could form within the existing nation-state without political approval. * **Protected communities** - Used as a legal shield for land. Policies may ensure that local property stays within the ancestral group to prevent displacement. Efforts might be required to change existing policies and laws to ensure that communities are legally allowed to establish themselves as a protected community. * **Special economic zones** - Used to provide economic self-sufficiency for the ancestral group and reduce their reliance on external states or global markets. Could also be used more broadly to experiment with new economic systems before they are more widely adopted. * **Charter cities** - A city could be designed to run on traditional or historical laws. It might function as a cultural centre for preserving traditional institutions, language and law. It might also be used just for experimenting with political systems that can more reliably protect the interests of the long-established ancestral population before it is adopted at a national level. * **Special administrative regions** - Could provide a permanent sanctuary for a distinct group and their culture. They might have more autonomy on determining immigration laws specifically to prioritise the return of the ethnic diaspora which might only be achievable due to having a sufficient amount of territory. * **Autonomous regions & federal units** - Often well established regions that could also have their own democratic process to determine whether the long-established ancestral population wants to govern themselves or not in these regions. They could self-determine what protections they want to put in place if any. The long-established ancestral population could pursue self-determination at these local, regional and national levels instead of just relying on one solution. These could be used as more of a hybrid model where civic nationalism might still exist at the national level but ancestral nationalist ideals are applied at different local and regional levels. Being able to pursue self-determination at this more local and regional level could be vital in preventing distinct ancestral groups from being oppressed by the population majority or by external groups that live in their country. In many cases, the long-established ancestral population might have nowhere else to go. From this perspective, they should be entitled to the right to protect their continuity and way of life. Without self-determination these populations could be forced to live in a way that they do not consent to and this is why local and regional solutions might be required. The most compelling ideas in this list include ideas around local and protected communities and autonomous regions & federal units. Local self-organisation can be a great way for people to express their preferences around who they want to live with. For the ancestral populations in their own homeland this is important as they often have nowhere else to go. Their preferences should be respected. Existing policies might need to be changed to enable these groups to be able to form these protected communities based on ancestry. Adopting ancestral nationalist ideas within autonomous regions and federal units is also a compelling solution as this could provide sufficient protection at a more regional level in situations when the national system continues to be civic nationalist. ## **Civic nationalist policies within ancestral nationalist societies** At the national level, civic nationalism can mean the state exists as a contractual entity. Its duty is to protect the rights of any person who chooses to join and uphold its constitution. Identity is opt-in and based on shared political principles and values. Many existing civic nationalist nation-states could benefit from adopting ancestral nationalism policies to better protect the continuity of their distinct identity and culture. This does not mean civic nationalism lacks value. It may be particularly useful in settings where political membership can remain more open, voluntary and institutionally flexible. The problem we face today is more around how it is currently being used in long-established nation-states and how this can dilute the nation’s identity and culture, something that could have been formed over hundreds or thousands of years. Civic nationalist leaning ideas could be adopted within ancestral nationalist countries in the following ways: * **Local communities** - Any migrants that are invited to live in an ancestral nationalist country would still be able to self-organise and live closer to other groups that they might prefer to live with. This might be more accepted on values-based reasoning rather than tolerance towards large ethnic enclaves. * **Special economic zones, charter cities & special administrative regions** - These solutions could all be considered as potential ways to experiment with new systems and ways of living. That might mean adopting more civic solutions for some parts of the political system or experimenting with different governance systems entirely. These experiments could help with developing areas within the nation or for trialling new systems. One example could be that individuals from external groups could be allowed to be politically involved in leading the creation of charter cities. That political membership might only be relevant in the context of that experiment. This approach could be effective for attracting global talent to help with building out these types of initiatives. The long-established ancestral population may be willing to adopt a more civic-leaning solution within their ancestral nationalist society in these cases where it is a completely new development that is experimenting with new political systems and ways of living and working together. * **Autonomous regions & federal units** - These regions could make decisions themselves on whether they want to adopt civic-leaning solutions. The long-established ancestral population may decide that they want migrants to live and work in their communities. They might also invite them to participate in local decisions that they might not have been able to participate in across other regions in the country. The long-established ancestral population may still retain the political influence to make broader decisions about who can live in their region. However, they might prefer to create a more civic-leaning environment. * **Fully sovereign states** - A new nation-state might not have the same deeply rooted historical identity and culture that it wants to protect. The population that is involved in starting a new nation-state could already have homelands that their ancestors originally came from. This can remove many of the problems with adopting civic nationalism. A new nation-state could adopt a far more fluid identity and culture and this might not be a problem when it is a relatively new society. Ancestral nationalism can be a better solution for more reliably protecting the continuity of each distinct ancestral group and their culture within existing nation-states. However civic nationalism in many cases could be the more suitable solution for experimenting with new societies or when starting new nation-states. It is the hybrid combination of ancestral nationalism, cultural nationalism and civic nationalism adopted more broadly across the world that could be quite pragmatic. Protecting the historical continuity of existing nation-states whilst also creating room for new societies and nation-states that could have a more fluid identity and culture from the beginning. ## Relevance to nationalism A nation-state does not have to choose between a fully ancestral, cultural or civic solution for their nation-state. A country could be ancestrally nationalist at the national level while still allowing for more civic solutions with special economic zones, charter cities or special administrative regions to attract global talent, test new institutions and drive innovation. Conversely, a civic or cultural nationalist country could allow for ancestrally protected communities, autonomous regions or federal arrangements to help preserve the continuity of a specific ancestral population and its culture. Ancestral nationalism is the more compelling solution for preserving the ancestral groups and culture of historical nation-states. Civic and cultural nationalism could be more suitable when creating new societies or nation-states where there is less historical continuity to protect and where a more fluid identity can be accepted from the beginning. Territorial solutions such as local communities, protected communities, charter cities, autonomous regions, federal units, freely associated states and in rare cases new sovereign states can all provide different levels of autonomy, protection and experimentation. These approaches give societies more flexibility to preserve what is historically rooted while also creating room to test new ways of living and governing. Existing nation-states can seek to protect their long-established ancestral populations and cultures more reliably with ancestral nationalism, whilst also creating limited spaces for civic experimentation and new forms of cooperation that could one day develop into new societies or even new nation-states.