What defines nationality?Is it the person's place of birth, loyalty or ethnicity? In a globalized world, there is not a single world standard, but each nation has its own set of citizenship rules. Any child born in the United States becomes American at birth, regardless of its parents' origins. Germany's "law of blood" system means a child is born German if at least one parent was German, regardless of place of birth. But now more non-Germans are qualifying for citizenship. Iran considers children of Iranian fathers to be Iranian citizens, regardless of whether they are born in Tehran, London or Los Angeles.Children born inside to non-Iranian parents can be recognized as citizens. The world's most unusual set of citizenship rules comes from the Vatican.It does not claim to be the homeland of any single people — but in practice, everybody's Catholic. Only 300 or so residents have Vatican citizenship. Ireland is among the most liberal granting citizenship to foreigners who move there and take up jobs.Irelands "grandparent rule," allows foreigners to take citizenship if proved at least one grandparent an Irish citizen at birth. Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory and half its population in treaties after World War I.

The government fast-tracks citizenship applications for ethnic Hungarians living outside the national borders. Armenia won its independence in 1991 from Communism. The Armenian government reached out to the ethnic Armenian diaspora, offering expedited citizenship to Armenians living abroad. Israel continues to struggle with the question of what defines nationality. Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war.Since 2005, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) has called on the international community to pressure Israel economically as "a form of civil resistance to Israeli occupation, colonialism, and apartheid." A former Israeli Ambassador to Belgium and Switzerland sees the rise of terrorism and conflicts in the world where world leaders failed to curb,caused citizens and governments to believe that part of the global problem is the unfinished problem between Palestinians and Israelis. The pressure of the European Union through economic boycott is increasing. Peace talks that resumed in July 2013 is set to expire in April 2014. When it comes to the nation of Israel, it is not to be set apart from biblical history. What will happen in April is a major global event to watch for.

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Tidbits:

Seafarers' trade unions from across the world came together in Londonthis month, at a second seminar organised by the ITF to discuss implementation of the Mexico City policyto improve the lives of seafarers and protect their rights through solid trade union representation. Tomas Abrahamsson, acting ITF maritime coordinatorexplained the need for greater transparency in the flag of convenience (FOC) campaign and standards for trade unions representing seafarers' interests. The seminar is likely to lead to further such discussions in individual countries and regions, and greater links and cooperation with other unions to ensure effective representation of the world's seafarers.