States Without Borders - Part 2

What makes a nation — and what happens when a nation doesn’t have a state of its own? In this episode of The Round Room, we explore communities like the Basques, Kashmiris, and Kurds who share a common identity, language, and history but lack full sovereignty. We break down nationalism, autonomy, and self-determination to understand how history, borders, and power shape global politics today, all in a clear, bite-sized format. We would love to thank our writing team, who put together the script for this episode: Audrey Collison, Valeria Guerrero, and Nathan Igoe. And, of course, we'd love to thank our sound editor Colten Gottlob. To keep up with podcast updates, please follow @theroundroompod on Instagram. Sources: Basque Country https://aboutbasquecountry.eus/en/2021/09/08/the-anticolonialism-of-sabino-arana-the-founder-of-basque-nationalism-video/ https://www.buber.net/Basque/History/arana.php https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Sabino_Arana https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/12/08/european-minority-languages-is-basque-the-most-unique-language-in-europe https://www.britannica.com/topic/Basque https://aboutbasquecountry.eus/en/2021/09/08/the-anticolonialism-of-sabino-arana-the-founder-of-basque-nationalism-video/ https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20170719-the-mysterious-origins-of-europes-oldest-language https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/bombing-of-guernica/ https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/04/25/inenglish/1335366383_825388.html Kurdistan https://www.britannica.com/place/Kurdistan https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kurd https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkey/The-Kurdish-conflict https://www.britannica.com/summary/Kurdistan https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/kurdish-pkk-dissolves-after-decades-struggle-with-turkey-news-agency-close-2025-05-12/ https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/kurds/ https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/11/06/advancing-human-rights-justice-and-democracy-for-kurds-and-all-other-communities-in Kashmir https://internationalviewpoint.org/Kashmir-India-Pakistan-on-the-history-and-internationalist-stakes-of-a-state-of https://beltwaygrid.org/the-kashmir-conflict-historical-roots-and-current-challenges/? https://www.britannica.com/place/Kashmir-region-Indian-subcontinent? https://newsofkashmir.com/index.php/2026/01/31/kashmir/? Kashmir-geography-people-and-heritage https://theindosphere.com/history/kashmir-origins-history-invasion/?