Hype for the Future 48A: International Flags of Interest

World History

Since the vast majority of the modern world is dictated by the European continent, the vast majority of nations to be featured shall be focused on the Global North, including Europe as well as the former colonies perceived as more prestigious in the modern context. Unfortunately, the exploitation in modern capitalism is often associated with such Global Northern countries, while the Global Southern countries are often the recipients of the exploitation, unfortunately. Within the Global Northern context, beginning with what society perceives as the “origin” and what the Western world perceives as “safe” countries, based on heritage families:

Celtic

• Scotland (United Kingdom) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
• Wales (United Kingdom) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
• Ireland (Republic of Ireland) 🇮🇪
• Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)
• Isle of Man (United Kingdom) 🇮🇲

Norman

• Jersey
• Guernsey 🇬🇬

Latin

• Portugal 🇵🇹
• Spain 🇪🇸
• Andorra 🇦🇩
• France 🇫🇷
• Italy 🇮🇹
• Vatican City 🇻🇦
• San Marino 🇸🇲
• Romania 🇷🇴
• Moldova 🇲🇩 (not typically identified as “safe” in the Western definition)

Germanic

• Luxembourg 🇱🇺
• Belgium 🇧🇪
• Netherlands 🇳🇱
• Germany 🇩🇪
• Switzerland 🇨🇭
• Austria 🇦🇹
• Liechtenstein 🇱🇮

Nordic

• Denmark 🇩🇰
• Faroe Islands 🇫🇴
• Greenland 🇬🇱 (not typically identified as Nordic traditionally, but effectively considered in the modern context)
• Norway 🇳🇴
• Sweden 🇸🇪
• Åland Islands 🇦🇽
• Iceland 🇮🇸

Finnic

• Finland 🇫🇮
• Estonia 🇪🇪

Baltic

• Latvia 🇱🇻
• Lithuania 🇱🇹

Slavic

• Slovenia 🇸🇮
• Croatia 🇭🇷
• Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦
• Serbia 🇷🇸
• Kosovo 🇽🇰
• Montenegro 🇲🇪
• North Macedonia 🇲🇰
• Bulgaria 🇧🇬
• Poland 🇵🇱
• Czechia 🇨🇿
• Slovakia 🇸🇰
• Belarus 🇧🇾 (not typically identified as safe in the Western context)
• Ukraine 🇺🇦 (in tensions as of the time of writing)
• Russia 🇷🇺 (in tensions as of the time of writing)

Unique

• Greece 🇬🇷
• Cyprus 🇨🇾
• Türkiye 🇹🇷
• Albania 🇦🇱
• Armenia 🇦🇲 (sometimes considered European)
• Hungary 🇭🇺 (not Indo-European)

Central Asia and the Oriental

The Global North may often include numerous Asian countries and regions, though many of the countries listed below are often considered either culturally distinct or entirely hostile to the Western world:

Central Asia

Within the Central Asian region, sometimes including the Middle East, the Arab world and the numerous Arab realms are often debated between the Middle East being considered the Global North and North Africa considered part of the Global South. The Arab nations typically associated with the Middle East and sometimes with the Global North begin near the Suez Canal and continue throughout the Arabian Peninsula. The nations typically associated with the “Global North” in the Arab world are listed below, often notable for sharing economic “success” stories with the Global North at large:

• Egypt 🇪🇬 (mostly in North Africa, though prior to the Age of Imperialism, the modern nation-state, along with much of North Africa, had been identified as culturally “successful” in Arab colonization and the spread of Islam ☪️)
• Palestine 🇵🇸 (disputed; this is the Muslim state while Israel 🇮🇱 is the Jewish ✡️ homeland)
• Jordan 🇯🇴
• Lebanon 🇱🇧
• Syria 🇸🇾
• Iraq 🇮🇶 (Mesopotamian culture and history)
• Iran 🇮🇷
• Kuwait 🇰🇼
• Bahrain 🇧🇭
• Qatar 🇶🇦
• Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 (covering most of the Arabian Peninsula)
• Yemen 🇾🇪
• Oman 🇴🇲
• United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪

Each of the aforementioned nations is at least partly identified as included within the “Middle East,” assuming a Eurocentric world model. However, culturally related nations in South Asia and the Indian subcontinent include:

• Afghanistan 🇦🇫
• Pakistan 🇵🇰
• India 🇮🇳
• Bangladesh 🇧🇩
• Nepal 🇳🇵
• Bhutan 🇧🇹
• Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
• Maldives 🇲🇻 (sometimes classified as Global South with Comoros 🇰🇲, Mauritius 🇲🇺, and Seychelles 🇸🇨)

The quintessential nations of Central Asia, many of which are deemed hostile to the Western world yet also of which include the Caucasian Mountains, include:

• Georgia 🇬🇪
• Armenia 🇦🇲 (previously mentioned as Indo-European)
• Türkiye 🇹🇷 (already mentioned as transcontinental with Europe)
• Azerbaijan 🇦🇿
• Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
• Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬
• Uzbekistan 🇺🇿
• Turkmenistan 🇹🇲
• Tajikistan 🇹🇯
• Mongolia 🇲🇳 (partially included within Central Asia)
• Russia 🇷🇺 (partially included within Central Asia, particularly along the Caspian Sea and the Kazakh border)
• China 🇨🇳 (typically associated with Xinjiang and Tibet)

The true Oriental countries of East Asia often refer to the following nations:

• People’s Republic of China 🇨🇳
• Republic of China (Taiwan) 🇹🇼
• Japan 🇯🇵
• North Korea 🇰🇵
• South Korea 🇰🇷
• Macao 🇲🇴
• Hong Kong 🇭🇰

Southeast Asia often refers to most of the nations located to the south of the People’s Republic of China east of Bhutan:

• Myanmar 🇲🇲
• Thailand 🇹🇭
• Laos 🇱🇦
• Vietnam 🇻🇳
• Cambodia 🇰🇭
• Malaysia 🇲🇾
• Singapore 🇸🇬
• Indonesia 🇮🇩 (partially considered Oceania)

While the Philippines 🇵🇭 may not typically be included within the definition of Southeast Asia nor Oceania, the nation is often associated with a mix of cultural traits associated with both continental clusters. Firmly within Oceania is where the cultural traits are often significantly more difficult to decipher:

• Australia 🇦🇺
• New Zealand 🇳🇿
• Fiji 🇫🇯
• Tonga 🇹🇴
• Tuvalu 🇹🇻
• Samoa 🇼🇸
• Vanuatu 🇻🇺
• Kiribati 🇰🇮
• Nauru 🇳🇷
• Micronesia 🇫🇲
• Marshall Islands 🇲🇭
• Palau 🇵🇼
• Northern Mariana Islands 🇲🇵 (part of the United States)
• Guam 🇬🇺 (part of the United States)
• American Samoa 🇦🇸 (part of the United States)
• Cook Islands 🇨🇰 (freely associated with New Zealand)
• New Caledonia 🇳🇨 (France)
• Wallis and Futuna 🇼🇫 (France)
• Tokelau 🇹🇰 (New Zealand)
• Niue 🇳🇺 (freely associated with New Zealand)
• French Polynesia 🇵🇫 (France)
• Pitcairn 🇵🇳
• United States Minor Outlying Islands (part)