Theonolism

     Individuals, religions, institutions, and political parties all have views that dictates their interpretations of the world around them, that explains their actions, justifies their goals, and accounts for abnormalities in their understanding of new information. A culture usually consists of several of these worldviews varying from a close-knit society with minimal discrepancies to a multicultural society with acknowledged disagreements. A nation state can consist of one or many cultures, people groups, and religions. The worldview of a nation combines the disparate views of its constituents and averages them, polishing the edges yet retaining strength from the fervor of the population.
     The worldview of a nation state, for this article, is theonolism.

Etymology

• The Greek word/derivative for god is "theo." In human mythologies, gods are the most powerful entities in existence from which everything is derived and is accountable to.
• The Greek word/derivative for idea or an area of study is "ol." Examination and refinement is essential to economics, military strategy, and political alliances. The "n" is added as a carry-over from nationalism, a sense of pride that one's nation is unquestionably better than all others.
• The Greek word/derivative for belief is "ism." Belief justifies action, inspires passion, and secures conformity within its converts. 

Components
     Theonolism is a union of culture, religious values, purposes of the state, and international intentions of the state.
     The purposes of the state are the intentions and goals that the governed population desires for the government to achieve. One of the most often used examples of the purpose of government is protection of its citizens. The citizens then must allow the government enablement of that purpose, usually through taxation, but occasionally through war drafts. Once the nation has the support of its population, it can extend itself into the wider world to interact with other countries that have their own theonolisms. Countries with similar beliefs group together and often form alliances that combine their powers throughout the world stage. The stronger a nation is militarily and economically the greater its projection of its theonolism on the world.
     Traditionally, the projection of a nation is termed as its sphere of influence. This sphere depends upon a number of economic, militaristic, geographical, and technological factors, and the result is the ability of a country to alter results within that sphere to best suit its own interests. A nation's theonolism is the values that contribute to decisions within the sphere of influence.

     The theonolism of the United States is roughly summed up by "capitalism" since money governs the United States's actions and interests, but America presents a softer, kinder, humanitarian front as its seeks wealth from other nations. As a democratic-republic the United States allows its citizens to choose the leaders that represent the theonolism of the people which is then projected through its sphere of influence. Many election-based countries have similar mechanisms. The results of this electoral system can create a rapid change in theonolism after an election period because new elected officials use their power to achieve different aims.
     Certain nations have a historical theonolism of expansion such as Russia, the United States, and many European powers. Other nations offer a historical theonolism of containment either because of isolationism or an inability to project such as North Korea, the Middle East, and many African nations. While these trends aid in presenting a cohesive interpretation of a nation's theonolism, theonolism can change if a country gets previously unknown amounts of power or when positioned to obliterate a weakened enemy.
     When theonolisms conflict, the ideological tension can lead to war or trade isolation through sanctions. If two major theonolisms are present in a single nation-state, a by-product culture blends extremes internationally because of division domestically. In the cases of the Ukraine Crisis or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a region fights between two theonolisms to determine its dominate theonolism because the status quo negotiation is unacceptable. This conflict sparks many civil wars though the divisive issue can vary widely in scope, impact, and context.
     The new idea that is portrayed in this article is not a word, not a regurgitated analysis of spheres of influence, not a project of philosophical exercise. The idea emphasis of this post is to bring attention to the fact that the mindset, worldview, ideology of a nation is a component of its people's projections on the world. The major components of this are beliefs (assumptions about the world), convictions (desires to keep or alter facets of the world), and empowerment (the ability to enact beliefs and convictions on the world).
     Where in the past, a nation could be represented by a monarch, today's modern elections change the face of leaders too often for them to holistically represent a country's desires. However, since most nations remain on steady courses, the underlying drive of that goal is not a single leader but the collective worldview of the people.


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Agatha Tyche