economic nationalism

when nationalism rears its head ,matters change . within the United states , interest and dividends may stream from south to north and west to East until doomsday . A few people may grumble about absentee ownership; but the courts and police are three to see that property rights are respected .
Not so between nations . when a country is poor , it may be anxious to borrow. after it has borrowed , it becomes unhappy to have to pay dividends and interest abroad .It chooses not to remember that its prosperity stemmed in part from its past borrowing More than an economic burden is involved; politically , countries do not like the principle of absentee ownership by foreigners . they are prone to insist upon getting rid of their international liabilities -paying them off at a fair or unfair price , or often by outright expropriation of the "imperialistic exploiters" (as in Castro ’s Cuba).
Economic and politics mix in ways too complicated to resolve. Some say "trade follows the flag ." Other say the flag follows trade . some say the pursuit of economic gain is the primary motive behind the imperialistic search for colonies . other claim that national power (offensive and defensive)is an end in itself ; that economic resources are sought for their contribution to military strength (offensive and defensive)rather than for their contribution to economic well-being.
According to this view , without wars and nationalism ,anyone could invest and trade anywhere , and sensible people should prefer to live in small countries unhindered by costly military establishments and colonial administration .At the opposite extreme is the view that victory in battle , rather than comfortable living , is the only worthy end in life ; that the foreigner is of no importance compared with the fatherland ;that he can be stripped of his goods and land , and be made to work for the conquerors .the world of last few centuries lies somewhere between these extreme cases.