Nationalism can be defined as an ideology that is based on the premise that a citizen's loyalty to the nation is greater than any individual or group interests. This sentiment of belonging to the soil in which a person was born or raised started to shape public opinion since the 18th century. A lot of countries and its citizens based the decision of dominating other countries or regions, upon nationalist's feelings. They would defend international invasions, upon the concept that their own country, culture and believes were at risk, if the opponent was not controlled or stopped.
Nationalism is an ideology that promotes the interest of a particular nation above those of other areas. It also supports the idea that the nation is the only rightful source of political power. This type of feeling might motivate countries to dominate other countries or regions. Countries that are very nationalists might feel that controlling more territory or more people might be beneficial to their future. They might also want to impose a standard culture, religion or ideology across various territories in order to achieve cultural hegemony. Finally, some countries might simply want to dominate others to assert their superiority.
