An "artificial state" is a state that is created for a region by external actors without regards to the region's inhabitants desire for a shared national identity. Artificial states are often racked by internal conflict and political instability in addition to being very vulnerable to covert political interference from outside sources. [353]

The term artificial state does not necessary have to refer to a state's present condition (such as an unstable artificial state still racked by internal ethnic divisions) but the denotation can be used in reference to now highly functional state's origins (as is the case when referring to Belgium as an artificial state.)

Some oft-mentioned artificial states are:

Pakistan: created by British to provide homeland for Indian Muslims, afraid of Hindutva-style policies adopted by the Indian National Congress during the late 30s and early 40s, as this would have destroyed their historic culture which produced much of India's pre-industrial architectural beauties, e.g: Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Babri Masjid and Shalimar Gardens. The community felt that migration to the uncivilized lands of Sindh would be a better proposition than being treated as a marginalized minority by Hindus. Most Muslims who made the pilgrimage still have relatives, old homes, or even properties and lands on the Gangetic Plain.

Iraq: created in the wake of the Ottoman Empire by the British Empire. [354]

Palestine : created by the British in 1922 from the British administered greater-Palestine region (which included Trans-Jordan.) [355]

Yugoslavia: recently separated into Bosnia Hercegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro [356] [357].

Georgia: at least claimed so by many Russians.

Belgium: viewed as an artificial state by many Flemings and increasingly also Walloons who desire their independence.

Cyprus: viewed as an artificial state by many Turkish Cypriots who desire their breakaway state the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus/TRNC" to be internationally recognized along with the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus.

Ottoman Empire: is commonly regarded as an artificial state since it was a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious empire that was formed on dynastic principles (Ottoman dynasty) and not on the nation-state; even though the rulers were Turkish, the official language along with Arabic was Turkish and the core country from where the empire grew was modern Turkey.

Austro-Hungarian Empire: was just like the Ottoman Empire a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious empire with nationalist movements.

Turkey and Iran: Though not artificial states in the case of Turkey and Iran which have long histories as independent and more or less viable nation-states, Kurds claim that the borders of Turkey, Iran and Iraq (already mentioned above) were drawn to suppress their claims for an independent Kurdish state in that region which they inhabit.

Northern Ireland: was created along sectarian lines by the British Empire in order to control as much of Ireland as possible with a Protestant and Unionist majority.

In some cases, artificial states are created by major regional or world powers to prevent the inhabitants from finding common unity and strength -- thus making the internal divided artificial state easier to influence. Iraq is one of the best examples in that it was crafted from three at-odd ethnicities by the British Empire after the fall of the Ottoman Empire to ensure continued British access to its abundant natural resources.

In other cases, artificial states are created by more by happenstance rather than from geopolitical strategizing. This is the origin of many of the post-colonial independent African states such as Congo, and Middle-Eastern states such as Iraq, historic Palestine and Lebanon.

Robert Fisk, a noted journalist and geopolitical critic, notes that the absence of functional democracy in the Middle-East may result from the artificial origins of many of the region's states:
<blockquote>"... there's nothing genetic about the Arab world's inability to seize democracy. The problem is not the people. The problem is the environment, the make-up of the patriarchal society and -- most important of all -- the artificial states which we created for them. They do not and cannot produce democracy." (emphasis added) [358] </blockquote>

Initially, artificial states can lack unifying patriotism or sense of nationalism since the inhabitants do not share enough in common. As time passes, nationalism can be nutured through appropriate propaganda or education. Often, as in the case of Yugoslavia, it was necessary to suppress the national identities of the component artificial state ethnic groups.

See also

Buffer state

Satellite state

Puppet state

Banana republic

References

Artificial states of Africa

More on Artificial States