National Identity Encouraging Nationalism

Nationalism is the understanding to create and maintain the sovereignty of a state (nation) by realizing the concept of the common identity of a group of people. The consciousness of maintaining the sovereignty of a country in the world is formed through different processes, so that when the consciousness of nationalism is realized, it will have different characteristics and forms. 

According to the process of political struggle in the middle of the 20th century, the national identity of each country is different due to the process of forming the identity itself, especially the countries of Southeast Asia.

Nationalism in the 20th century was considered the most powerful weapon in international politics. However, until recently, the concept of nationalism itself often faced debate about what exactly nationalism meant. According to Anderson (2008), nationalism comes from the word "nation", a community of people bound by a sense of unity and believe in the common 

legacy of the past or destiny in the future. From another point of view, the term "nationalism" is often used to describe two phenomena; one is the attitude of a society that cares about its national identity, and the other is the attitude of a society in looking for ways to achieve or defend its own destiny. (self-determination) of action.

We take the example of the Indonesian state as Elson (2009) stated, which explains that it is not unity based on racial or ethnic solidarity, religious ties or even geographical proximity that gives power to the idea of Indonesia, but a shared experience and thus generates special solidarity. History has proven that political nationalism in Indonesia is very 

capable of weaving the interests of a plural society that struggles to find a common will. However, the efficacy of this political nationalism is only tested as a passive defense force of nationalism in the face of the ugliness of a common enemy (colonialism) from the outside. In fact, with the fading of colonialism, Indonesia's national plan based on the discovery of "boundaries" and "opponents" of colonialism became obsolete.

Two factors cause the emergence of nationalism, namely internal and external factors. The first factor was as a form of dissatisfaction with the invaders that gave rise to popular resistance in the form of rebellion or war. While the second factor as a renaissance is considered a symbol of belief in one's own abilities.

Chong (2009) argues that nationalism in Southeast Asia is also influenced by three factors, namely religion, Western education, social radicals and communism. The last factor is that communism was the most important factor in the formation of nationalism in Southeast Asia, and the emergence of nationalism was a response to the poor governance of 

colonialism from the exploitation and suppression of colonialism. Therefore, this sense of nationalism has implications for various changes in the fate of colonized nations. Colonial experience influenced the emergence of nationalistic anti-fascist anti-colonialism by giving birth to independence movements. Religion plays an important role in Southeast Asian society. 

The fusion of religious and cultural consciousness has formed a unique national consciousness. In a regional context, there is no denying that nationalism in Southeast Asia occurs in the process of combining an anti-colonial spirit with the ability to assimilate modern ideas or common goals as an independent nation.

Nationalism as a strong binding rope, that is, the understanding that the loyalty of the individual must be handed over to the national state, as a close bond to the spilled blood. The desire for unity, equality of sense of harmony and serenity will give birth to a sense of nationality that has an impact on the emergence of self-confidence, a sense that is very necessary to defend oneself in the struggle for a better situation.