The Two Forms Of Nationalism

How even nationalism now respects our globalised world order.

Humans have grown from small tribes into large, diverse nations, bringing many different ethnic groups under one flag and one identity.

These nations, though, have not proven to be fragile or riven by internal conflict, but have rather endured for decades or even centuries. Strong bonds have formed between millions of people against the odds — I cannot know the vast majority of my fellow Britons, for example, and yet, I would still say that I feel British.

However, whilst we can look at nations as a great feat of human cooperation, we cannot blindly ignore their darker side — nationalism.

Nationalism, as we will see, has certainly be tamed over the past century, but it still constitutes a stain on human society and one of our greatest challenges to overcome.

Nationalism has existed since the first nations sprung into existence more than 4,000 years ago.

We start our story, though, at a time when the nation-state was becoming ever-stronger, perhaps even at the peak of its powers: 15th-century Europe.

The continent was full of large, powerful nations at this time. The Islamic world had largely fallen in status, and the far-east was still…