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The Three Principles Of The People

Decent Essays

In ‘The Three Principles of the People,’ Sun Yat-Sen presents two key criticisms of cosmopolitanism and the destructive implications behind this ideology. The first critique is not directly linked to the actual definition of the term, but the way in which nation-states use it to further their social and political legitimacy. Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all humans belong to one global culture and community as global citizens. However, Sun Yat-Sen criticizes which country or nations form of government and sociocultural norms will be used as the basis for the global community.
Sun Yat-Sen believes that the countries [or nations] that will establish the foundation for world government and global culture will be those that use imperialism to maintain their position as the ultimate powers of the world. However, before these nations attempt to govern countries, they must rule over their own. He states, “The nations which are employing imperialism to conquer others and which are trying to maintain their own favored positions as sovereign lords of the whole world are advocating cosmopolitanism and want the world to join them.” For Yat-Sen, cosmopolitanism is an unreasonable idea because the imperialists who support it will have an even stronger position to obliterate smaller countries that reject it. He supports this critique by using World War I as an example.
European countries were attempting to solve the problem with Turkey, one they did not understand, which contributed

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