Taifa katika ulimwengu wa Magharibi wa kibepari limejengwa juu ya dhana ya taifa-dola. Ardhi na serikali yake ni mali ya taifa-dola hili, na zinafafanuliwa kwa msingi wake. Ni watu ndio wanaoufafanua taifa-dola, kwa kuzingatia mipaka yao inayokubalika. Katika fikra za Magharibi, watu wanaweza kufafanuliwa kwa msingi wa sababu moja au nyingi, kama vile jiografia, historia, rangi na urithi wa lugha. Hizi ndizo sababu zinazounda utambulisho wa pamoja na wa kipekee kwa watu, kulingana na mtazamo wao. Hivyo, watu hutenda kama mwili mmoja, nao wana haki ya kujiamulia mambo yao wenyewe. Wanaweza kuchagua kuishi katika dola huru, inayojitegemea bila kutegemea watu wengine.

The nation in the capitalist West is based on the notion of the nation state. The land and its government belong to this nation state and are defined upon its basis. It is the people who define the nation state, based on their accepted borders. The people can be defined in the Western thought based on single or multiple factors, such as geography, history, race and linguistic heritage. These are the factors that make a distinctive, collective identity for the people, according to their view. So the people act as one body and they have a right to self-determination. They can choose to live in a sovereign state, independent of other people.