A mortal nation too
An inability to listen to others is common to the nationalism of small countries with troubled histories—like Israel. So why is it also true of the US?
Tag: Nationalism and the nation
Britain rediscovered
The British have traditionally had a rather weak sense of identity. Politicians of the left now want to construct a more visible, inclusive national story. What should it be based on? Can it be done top down?
Deaf nationalism
Sign language is officially recognised as a minority language in its own right. And some deaf people have begun to think of themselves as forming a fully fledged "nation." They accuse hearing-aid makers and ear surgeons of trying to exterminate…
Secularism in France
France's banning of religious symbols in state schools is incomprehensible to many Europeans. But "laïcité" - French-style secularism - is an ideology, defining what it means to be French
Demon in the cellar
America's "Jacksonian" nationalism is responsible for turning the US from a conservative power to a revolutionary one
Not just British beef
The cow is a simple animal, yet for centuries its meat symbolised the English character. But nationalists elsewhere have also found mythic value in beef.
Scots on the rocks
Neal Ascherson has found geological origins for Scottish nationalism. This is not as mad as it sounds but it is still no reason to abandon the Union
All passion spent
The former revolutionary and Mitterrand adviser has no time for utopian nonsense about a post-national Europe
Other people
The modern left values both solidarity and diversity, but they can conflict. A strong notion of Britishness helps them to cohabit—the left still needs the nation
National good
The ethnically homogeneous nation-state is alive and well. It remains the largest feasible focus for both belonging and democracy
After “After Britain”
Donald Dewar and Francis Fukuyama share the same anxiety that all forms of nation-building will collapse into ethnic nationalism. They are wrong
Atatürk’s creation
The creation of the Turkish state was one of the most remarkable acts of political will in the 20th century. What about the man who did it?
Don’t do it Britannia
The break-up of Britain is in the interests of neither the English, the Scots, nor the US. Scottish nationalism is "a game played at the end of history"
A mission for Britain
Federalism has threatened to become the dominant force in the EU. But the nation-state is back. Britain can now feel comfortable
Divide and survive
History shows that partition and population exchange is often the least bad answer to ethnic conflict. Western reluctance to accept this fact prolonged the Bosnian war and could complicate the exodus from Kosovo. The alternative to partition in the Balkans…
The Habsburg dilemma
Ernest Gellner was a brilliant polemicist, but his partisan history of ideas is a crude caricature of modern European thought.
National success
Successful nation states have been built not on race, but on liberal political institutions and a dominant language or culture. But the EU is not a nation or a state, and is neither democratic nor culturally coherent. We should think…
Identity parades
The dilemma for modern liberal states is how to combine tolerance for diversity with a commitment to universal civic values. Michael Ignatieff considers how Britain, and British identity, is dealing with this dilemma in the face of ethnic and religious…
We are all mongrels now
A new generation of Irish intellectuals is exploring the hybrid nature of Irish and British identity. Neal Ascherson finds their views appealing but politically impractical
Among the Serbs
The Milosevic regime in Belgrade is faltering but the spirit of Serbian nationalism burns as strong as ever in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb mini-state. William Tribe, who taught English for more than 25 years at Sarajevo University, visited Srpska…