Civics

    A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a political-ideological aristocracy relative to the general group.

    Despotism is a form of government characterized by a ruler who wields absolute power over his people. Despite the word's negative connotations, a leader doesn't necessarily have to be a corrupt, evil megalomaniac to be a despot; it is possible to be a benevolent despot, though history records few cases of such.

    The strength of this form of government is that the ruler can easily implement his decisions; he does not need to compromise, cajole, or bribe anyone to get the job done. The weakness of this form of government is that the ruler can implement bad decisions just as easily as good ones; with no checks and balances, how can he be stopped? Also, there is a lot of truth in the old saying, "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." And though as said before, despots don't need to be corrupt, evil megalomaniacs, many of them end up that way.

    Monarchy is a form of government where there is a single head of state and power is usually passed down from one member of the family to the next. There is often a religious justification for such hereditary rule; monarchs are said to rule by "divine right" or "the mandate of heaven." A monarch's power can be absolute but is often partially delegated to officials or nobles - in some cases so much that the monarch is little more than a figurehead.

    The strength of monarchy is that there is usually a clear line of succession and, due to its institutional nature, even dynastic changes can be relatively stable. Furthermore, there may be a certain amount of familial pressure on the ruler to not ruin the ancestral legacy for the next generation. However, monarchy suffers the same kind of weaknesses as do all unelected rulers; the leader is not answerable to the people, and it can be extremely difficult to get rid of a bad one. History records many great monarchs but also many more that failed to inherit the same virtues as their forebearers.

    In a republic, the head of state is not a monarch and there are no legal privileges for the nobility. The exact form of government can vary widely, from absolute despotism to direct democracy, but the most important difference between a republic and any form of monarchy is the much-diminished role of family and lineage in government.

    Before the French Revolution, a republic in Europe was an aberration. The state enjoyed none of the external security provided by royal family ties. Internally, the succession was decided to some extent by merit, even if this often meant merely that the man with the best ability to take power would do so.

    Unlike traditional monarchies, where rule is hereditary and passed down the family line, under an elective system rulers are chosen by election. Elective systems differ from democracies in that the monarch is generally chosen for life and the right to vote is limited to a small groups of magnates or special members of the aristocracy.

    Elective systems were prominent in medieval central Europe. In the Holy Roman Empire, the elective system was codified over the centuries to a group of Prince Electors choosing the next Emperor. The Polish king was also elected, first by a small group of nobles, later by the entire noble class. Other European examples include early Scandinavian kings and the Doge of Venice. Outside of Europe, the Mansa of the Mali Empire and the Tlatoani of the Aztec Triple Alliance were selected and confirmed by a privileged council. The selection of the Mongol Great Khan could also be considered an elective monarchy.

    A one-party state is a type of state in which one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties are either outlawed or allowed to take only a limited and controlled participation in elections. One-party states explain themselves through various methods. Most often, proponents of a one-party state argue that the existence of separate parties runs counter to national unity. Others argue that the one party is the vanguard of the people, and therefore its right to rule cannot be legitimately questioned. The Soviet government argued that multiple parties represented the class struggle, which was absent in Soviet society, and so the Soviet Union only had one party: The Communist Party.

    Most one-party states have been ruled either by parties following the ideology of Marxism-Leninism and international solidarity (such as the Soviet Union for most of its existence), or by parties following some type of nationalist or fascist ideology (such as Italy under Benito Mussolini), or by parties that came to power in the wake of independence from colonial rule. One-party systems often arise from decolonization because one party has had an overwhelmingly dominant role in liberation or in independence struggles.

    Democracy means 'rule of the people' and is a form of government in which citizens make policy decisions by consensus or referendum, or more commonly, via a number of elected representatives who run the government on their behalf. These representatives form a group (council, parliament, senate, etc.) that determines and implements government policy. After serving for a defined period of time representatives must stand for re-election. In some democracies there is a single head of state with limited authority: this may be a monarch or an elected ruler chosen by the people or by the representatives themselves.

    The greatest strength of democracy is that leaders are held accountable by people who voted for them and thus it is much more difficult to abuse power or introduce terrible policy. Decision making is much slower, but much more considered. The people have have a greater personal investment in the running of state and everyone has an equal say everyone in how things are decided. The negative side of this is that this includes everyone, regardless of intelligence or honesty. At its worst, democracy can potentially lead to 'tyranny of the majority' where minority groups are overlooked or persecuted if it is in the interests of the majority to do so. The right to vote can also be denied to certain groups, women and slaves for example.

    In the earliest societies, rulers justified the exercise of their power with nothing put their personal authority. The most important tasks for early rulers were warfare and religious leadership, authority was often derived from military leadership, successful conquest or connection to the gods. Over time, these concepts would be further refined and expanded upon. For example, in the Greek and Roman world, rhetorical skill was regarded as a substantial source of authority. The great advantage of a system based on the skills and background of a single person is that there is less risk of disloyalty and factionalism to the functioning of government. However, one person can only exert their power so far. Once a civilisation grows to a certain size, power needs to be transferred to other people to maintain control, and a more sophisticated system becomes necessary to legitimise their rule.

    Citizenship describes the legal codification of the relationship between a state and its people. Instead of being just being a subject at the whim of the power of their ruler, the status of citizen comes with certain rights and obligations towards the state. The prime example of citizenship was the Roman Republic. Initially, only inhabitants of Rome could be citizens, which came with access to the Roman legal system, protection from enslavement, and political participation. Over the course of Roman history citizenship was gradually expanded to other populations under Roman rule, which furthered their integration into Roman society.

    The concept of citizenship continued during the Roman Empire and entered the Western legal tradition. During the Middle Ages, citizenship was replaced by serfdom as the dominant form of social relationship, however the practice continued in independent cities. Modern European states, and later almost all states in the world, conferred citizenship to all its peoples for essentially the same reason the Roman Republic did.

    Vassalage is a feudal term referring to a person who enters a contract with his or her lord, agreeing to serve and protect the lord in return for monetary rewards or ownership or sovereignty over a parcel of land. The contract is often of both political and religious significance binding both parties by the rules of man and of God.

    Vassalage is often tribal in nature. One tribe conquers another, and rather than killing the conquered tribe or taking over its direct management, the conquering ruler makes the conquered his vassal: the lower ruler continues to maintain control over his people and territory, while paying tribute to his or her lord in the form of money, goods, soldiers or slaves.

    A theocracy is a form of government where priests or holy men are in charge of the government. The government is run to benefit the people, but, more importantly, in accord with the wishes of the almighty, as interpreted by the holy men and priests. According to the theory, it is the will of God that such men be in charge of running things, and political dissent is sinful and wrong-headed, if not outright heresy.

    In the modern world, theocracies tend to be backward-looking, seeking to return their country to some usually mythical past state of grace and away from the evil and corrupt modern world. Diplomacy tends to be extremely difficult for such countries, since countries who act against their interests are doing so at the urging of the devil, rather than because the other countries have their own points of view and objectives. How can a holy leader compromise with an imp of Satan?

    Bureaucracy is a form of government in which a professional class manages the day to day operations of the government. They collect the taxes. They build the roads. They turn the ruler's wishes into actuality. The Chinese mandarins are an early example of a bureaucracy; the motor vehicle agency of your local government is a later example.

    Bureaucracies provide a certain amount of stability and competence to a government, ensuring that the government will continue to operate efficiently even if the old ruler is thrown out and a new and totally inexperienced ruler takes his or her place. Over time, though, a bureaucracy may become "entrenched" - growing in size and inefficiency to the point where it is extremely difficult for a leader to accomplish anything - good or ill.

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    A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to embody a written constitution; if they are written down in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a codified constitution. Some constitutions (such as the constitution of the United Kingdom) are uncodified, but written in numerous fundamental Acts of a legislature, court cases or treaties.

    What is sometimes called the "enlightened constitution" model was developed by philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment such as Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke. The model proposed that constitutional governments should be stable, adaptable, accountable, open and should represent the people (i.e., support democracy). The United States Constitution, ratified June 21, 1788, was influenced by the writings of Polybius, Locke, Montesquieu, and others. The document became a benchmark for republicanism and codified constitutions written thereafter.

    A traditionalist society is based on oral traditions and long established ways of doing things. Its authority is difficult to question, since no modern figure can easily claim the right to change what was established by the ancestors. This can be a great weakness of the system when times change, but so long as the basic mechanisms of existence remain stable, the tradition-oriented culture gains a strong sense of its own values, and feels powerful ties to the legacy of its own ancestors. As society became more settled, existing customs grew formalized and expanded. Priests and scribes served as guardians of collective social memory by keeping track of longstanding precedents and rituals, often dating back centuries to quasi-legendary founding heroes. Rulers sought to empower themselves by following the rites and policies established by such traditions.

    Slavery is a system whereby some people are judged far inferior to others and are treated as objects or possessions, with no more rights than those afforded to chairs or cattle. Slavery has existed as long as human history, from the earliest primitive times to the enlightened days of Greece and Rome and right up until today. Sometimes convicted criminals were made into slaves. Sometimes captured enemies of the state were enslaved. Sometimes people of a specific race or coloration were enslaved. In some civilizations a person could purchase their freedom or were allotted it after being enslaved for a specific period of time.

    The advantage of slavery is that it allows people to be forced to do jobs that they would otherwise refuse to do without adequate compensation. Cheap labor results in concentration of wealth and thus the creation of great buildings and temples or the maintenance of large professional armies. Aside from its basic moral repugnance, the disadvantages of slavery are numerous: it corrupts both slave and master, it badly underutilizes the intelligence and creativity of the subject people, and it almost inevitably leads to revolts and internal strife.

    Manorialism was an essential element of feudal society. It was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the Roman villa system of the Late Roman Empire, and was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe. It was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market economy and new forms of agrarian contract. Manorialism was characterised by the vesting of legal and economic power in a Lord of the Manor, supported economically from his own direct landholding in a manor (sometimes called a fief), and from the obligatory contributions of a legally subject part of the peasant population under the jurisdiction of himself and his manorial court. These obligations could be payable in several ways, in labor (the French term corvée is conventionally applied), in kind, or, on rare occasions, in coin.

    The caste system is one where one's parentage determines one's place in society. If your parents are street-cleaners, then so are you. If your parents are merchants, that's what you are. If your parents are nobility, then you are as well. Your status is determined at birth, and there's nothing you can do to better it. One may advance within one's caste, but that's as far as it goes. Marriages between castes are taboo.

    There is little advantage to the caste system, except to the people whose parents are on the top of the heap. Merit and initiative are useless: if the most intelligent and wise person in the culture happens to be born a street-cleaner, then he'll be an intelligent and wise street-cleaner. He'll never have a chance to become a priest, philosopher, or leader.

    Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that emphasizes the moral worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance and advocate that interests of the individual should achieve precedence over the state or a social group, while opposing external interference upon one's own interests by society or institutions such as the government.

    Liberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted in the United States, Europe, Australia and other Western nations, and was recognized as an important value by many Western philosophers throughout history, in particular since the Enlightenment.

    Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. Totalitarian regimes stay in political power through an all-encompassing propaganda campaign, which is disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, a single party that is often marked by political repression, personality cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror. It is not synonymous with dictatorship, as authoritarian regimes also exhibit dictatorial features, but do not create an all-controlling, all-politicised society. Furthermore, non-dictatorial governments and societies are sometimes denounced as having totalitarian features, including democratic socialism, capitalism and liberal democracy.

    The concept of totalitarianism was first developed in a positive sense in the 1920s by the Italian fascists. The concept became prominent in Western anti-communist political discourse during the Cold War era in order to highlight perceived similarities between Nazi Germany and other fascist regimes on the one hand, and Soviet communism on the other.

    Aside from fascist and Stalinist movements that are totalitarian, there have been other movements that are totalitarian. The leader of the historic Spanish reactionary conservative movement called the Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right declared his intention to "give Spain a true unity, a new spirit, a totalitarian polity..." and went on to say "Democracy is not an end but a means to the conquest of the new state. When the time comes, either parliament submits or we will eliminate it." Baathist Iraq was distinctly ultra-nationalist and totalitarian, and has been dubbed by historian Stanley G. Payne as "the closest" reproduction of the Third Reich. Several revolutionary fundamentalist regimes have been pointed out as totalitarian, including post-revolutionary Iran.

    Egalitarianism (from French égal, meaning "equal") is a trend of thought that favors equality among living entities. Egalitarian doctrines maintain that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status, according to The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Cultural theory of risk holds egalitarianism as defined by (1) a negative attitude towards rules and principles, and (2) a positive attitude towards group decision-making, with fatalism termed as its opposite. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term has two distinct definitions in modern English. It is defined either as a political doctrine that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic inequalities among people or the decentralization of power. Some sources define egalitarianism as the point of view that equality reflects the natural state of humanity.

    Contrary to popular conception, barter (goods and services exchanged directly for other goods and services) was not the primary method of economic transaction in pre-currency societies. Instead, early civilizations generally used a system of reciprocity, sometimes called a gift economy. Goods and services are given without expectation of something explicit in return. By giving generously and diplomatically individuals or states increase their prestige - making them more likely to receive useful and valuable gifts from other aspiring people.

    Reciprocity's strength is the strong social ties and obligations it creates but these are hard to maintain in more populous societies and across larger distances. Critically though, gift economies are economies of abundance, not scarcity. Social bonds can quickly break down when basic subsistence is a struggle.

    Many of the great riverine civilizations of ancient times, particularly around the Mediterranean, were dominated by the economic power of the central government to distribute goods. Grain and other key staples were kept in granaries owned by the elite, and the state taxed property-owners heavily, taking payment in chattel goods such as livestock. Many workers were employed directly by the palaces and the temples.

    This served to maintain a large reserve of valuable property in the direct hands of the government, and served as one of the main sources of a ruler's power. The storehouses' stockpiles could be kept in reserve for times of famine, or used to feed armies or labor battalions as necessary. Other forms of property, such as fabric, pottery, and precious metals, served as a source of income for the monarchs, allowing them to fund public works and pay specialist labourers.

    While very early societies had a strong state control over the economy, for example in grain storage and distribution, as goods became more complex and trade routes more far reaching, it has become harder for them to exert control over trade. Long distance trade usually took place without state interference by private individuals. For instance, most traders along the silk route organised without any involvement of the involved states. Likewise, states would withdraw from regulating trade and let it pass freely throughout their borders.

    Regulated Trade describes a government trade policy that seeks to influence foreign trade to the benefit of its national industries. With the Ming dynasty, China started to close off its economy to foreign trade, and likewise Japan forbade interaction with foreign merchants. Besides protecting local craftsmen, this was also meant to keep out dangerous ideas from abroad. In Europe, increasing trade regulation coincided with colonialism. This particular form of regulated trade, Mercantilism, was focused on importing raw goods from the colonies to produce manufactured goods at the exclusion of foreign economies.

    Free Enterprise (also referred to as Laissez-faire economic policy) is an economic system in which transactions between private parties are free from government intervention such as regulation, privileges, tariffs, and subsidies. The doctrine of laissez-faire became an integral part of nineteenth-century European liberalism. Just as liberals supported freedom of thought in the intellectual sphere, so were they equally prepared to champion the principles of free trade and free competition in the sphere of economics. The state was to be merely a passive policeman, protecting private property and administering justice, but not interfering with the affairs of its citizens. Businessmen, and particularly British industrialists, were quick to associate these principles with their own economic interests.

    Central planning represents an economy completely controlled, owned and planned by the government, otherwise known as state capitalism. Under a centrally planned economy, all labor, capital, production, agriculture, utilities, and finances are run by the government, and all service businesses are owned by the government. Because there are no private companies, no trade exists. Centrally planned economies are able to concentrate their resources on major projects such as world wonders and world projects, but are very costly to maintain.

    An early version of the welfare state appeared in China during the Song Dynasty in the 11th century. Prime Minister Wang Anshi believed that the state was responsible for providing its citizens the essentials for a decent living standard. Accordingly, under his direction the state initiated agricultural loans to relieve the farming peasants. He appointed boards to regulate wages and plan pensions for the aged and unemployed. These reforms were known as the "new laws," New Policies, or xin fa.

    Modern welfare states developed through a gradual process beginning in the late 19th century and continuing through the 20th. They differed from previous schemes of poverty relief due to their relatively universal coverage. The development of social insurance in Germany under Bismarck was particularly influential. Some schemes, like those in Scandinavia, were based largely in the development of autonomous, mutualist provision of benefits. Others were founded on state provision. The term was not, however, applied to all states offering social protection. The sociologist T.H. Marshall identified the welfare state as a distinctive combination of democracy, welfare and capitalism.

    Examples of early welfare states in the modern world are Sweden (Folkhemmet), Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand in the 1930s. Germany is generally held to be the first social welfare state. Changed attitudes in reaction to the Great Depression were instrumental in the move to the welfare state in many countries, a harbinger of new times where "cradle-to-grave" services became a reality after the poverty of the Depression. During the Great Depression, it was seen as an alternative "middle way" between communism and fascism. In the period following the Second World War, many countries in Europe moved from partial or selective provision of social services to relatively comprehensive coverage of the population.

    The activities of present-day welfare states extend to the provision of both cash welfare benefits (such as old-age pensions or unemployment benefits) and in-kind welfare services (such as health or childcare services). Through these provisions, welfare states can affect the distribution of wellbeing and personal autonomy among their citizens, as well as influencing how their citizens consume and how they spend their time.

    After the discovery and inflow of the oil revenue, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates all became welfare states. However, the services are strictly for citizens and these countries do not accept immigrants; even those born in these countries do not qualify for citizenship unless they are of the parentage belonging to their respective countries.

    The beginning of the modern welfare state was in 1911 when David Lloyd George suggested everyone in work should pay national insurance contribution for unemployment and health benefits from work.

    In 1942, the 'Social Insurance and Allied Services' was created by Sir William Beveridge in order to aid those who were in need of help, or in poverty. Beverage worked as a volunteer for the poor, and set up national insurance. He stated that 'All people of working age should pay a weekly national insurance contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed.' The basic assumptions of the report were the National Health Service, which provided free health care to the UK. The Universal Child Benefit was a scheme to to give child benefits, which encouraged people to have children so they could afford to keep them alive and not for them to starve to death. This was particularly useful after the second world war, where the population in England declined, so encouragement for new babies was encouraged, which sparked the baby boom. The impact of the report was huge and 600,000 copies were made. He recommended to the government that they should find ways of tackling the five giants, being Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. He argued to cure these problems, the government should provide adequate income to people, adequate health care, adequate education, adequate housing and adequate employment. Before 1939, health care had to be paid for, this was done through a vast network of friendly societies, trade unions and other insurance companies which counted the vast majority of the UK working population as members. These friendly societies provided insurance for sickness, unemployment and invalidity, therefore providing people with an income when they were unable to work. But because of the 1942 Berveridge Report, in 5th July 1948, the National Insurance Act, National Assistance Act and National Health Service Act came into force, thus this is the day that the modern UK welfare state was founded.

    Animism is the religious belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things-animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and perhaps even words—as animated and alive.

    Animism is the oldest known type of belief system in the world that even predates paganism. It is still practiced in a variety of forms in many traditional societies. Animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many indigenous tribal peoples, especially in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. Although each culture has its own different mythologies and rituals, "animism" is said to describe the most common, foundational thread of indigenous peoples' "spiritual" or "supernatural" perspectives. The animistic perspective is so widely held and inherent to most animistic indigenous peoples that they often do not even have a word in their languages that corresponds to "animism", or even "religion".

    Deification (also called Apotheosis) describes raising a human to the status of a God, either posthumously or during their lifetime. These deified rulers used their divine status to cement their authority, and in turn had the duty to secure the support of the gods for their populace. The most well-known examples of deified rulers are the Egyptian pharaohs. Likewise, Chinese emperors justified their rule by having the Mandate of Heaven. Even though the Greco-Roman world had a more republican outlook on government, the Greeks had a tradition of deifying heroes. With the onset of the Roman Empire, emperors were venerated as gods. A similar tradition existed in many Hindu kingdoms in India, Indochina and Indonesia.

    Clergy refers to a hierarchical and institutional structure within a religion. In particular, the clergy itself is the religious leadership present in various organised religions. The names of members of the clergy vary from religion to religion, but their duties are often similar: interpreting existing religious texts and traditions, resolving open religious questions, and administering the religious organisation itself. Since religion is often an important aspect in the legitimisation of secular power, clergy can often be involved in worldly government or even hold such power itself. The various Christian denominations are the most prominent examples here. The leader of Catholic Christianity, the Pope, once exercised control over much of Italy, and bishops and monastic orders used to rule regions of Europe without any dependence on a higher monarch.

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    Monasticism or monkhood is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Similar forms of religious life also exist in other faiths, most notably in Buddhism, but also in Hinduism and Jainism, although the expressions differ considerably. A religion with focus on monasticism generally is less organised, and concentrated on several monastic orders instead of a central hierarchical order.

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Religious victory
Control a cathedral of seven different religions
Make sure there are 100 Universities in secular cities and settle ten Great Scientists and ten Great Statesmen in secular cities
Make sure that the five most advanced civilizations are secular

    Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, and the right to freedom from governmental imposition of religion upon the people within a state that is neutral on matters of belief. In another sense, it refers to the view that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be unbiased by religious influence. Some scholars are now arguing that the very idea of secularism will change.

    Secularism draws its intellectual roots from Greek and Roman philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius and Epicurus; medieval Muslim polymaths such as Ibn Rushd; Enlightenment thinkers such as Denis Diderot, Voltaire, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine; and more recent freethinkers, agnostics, and atheists such as Robert Ingersoll and Bertrand Russell.

    The purposes and arguments in support of secularism vary widely. In European laicism, it has been argued that secularism is a movement toward modernization, and away from traditional religious values (also known as secularization). This type of secularism, on a social or philosophical level, has often occurred while maintaining an official state church or other state support of religion. In the United States, some argue that state secularism has served to a greater extent to protect religion and the religious from governmental interference, while secularism on a social level is less prevalent. Within countries as well, differing political movements support secularism for varying reasons.

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    Isolationist civilisations have deliberately closed themselves off from the outside world. The reasons for doing so can vary. Sometimes, the desire is to exclude outside merchants from competing with the local economy, but another important reason is to keep out foreign ideas and influences that could threaten the existing social order or government. China stopped its naval program during the Ming dynasty and refused requests for foreign trade, considering itself entirely self-sufficient. In Japan during the Tokugawa Shogunate, the introduction of Western technology and Christianity was considered a threat to population's loyalty to the shogun, and the country completely shut itself off from the world. Joseon Korea similarly was known as the Hermit Kingdom.

    In the early modern era, European naval powers began to discover and colonise various parts of the world, beginning in the Americas, but subsequently also Asia and Africa. While the initial process happened without much direction, colonialism quickly became state policy for these civilisations. Under colonialism, vast amounts of wealth were extracted from colonised regions under the exploitation of their native populations to the benefits of their European homelands. Colonialism led to the displacements of large population groups, especially under the transatlantic slave trade, and introduced new plants and animals to parts of the world that had never seen them before. International prestige was as important to colonialism as its economic benefits, and colonial powers would often get into conflicts over their colonies and involve local neighbours.

    A "nation" is a group of people sharing some kind of common identity. Nations may be united by language, custom, history, or religion (or any combination of them).

    Sharing languages, customs, histories and so forth provides strength to a nation - the sense of identity and commonality reduces internal strife, civil and religious wars, and so forth. Unfortunately, citizens with different languages, customs, and backgrounds may be looked upon with suspicion, distrust, and contempt, promoting unhappiness and unrest from the minority and limiting their ability to fully contribute to the society.

    In international relations, multilateralism is multiple countries working in concert on a given issue. Multilateralism was defined by Miles Kahler as "international governance of the 'many,'" and its central principle was "opposition [of] bilateral discriminatory arrangements that were believed to enhance the leverage of the powerful over the weak and to increase international conflict." In 1990, Robert Keohane defined multilateralism as "the practice of coordinating national policies in groups of three or more states.