Is Nationalism Good for You?

Think of "nationalism," and you might think of a country brainwashed to hate its neighbors. When war broke out in the past, nationalism was often automatically assumed to be a party to the crime, either as a tool that would allow leaders to seduce the masses into fighting, or as fuel that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inForeign policy no. 165; pp. 51 - 56
Main Author de las Casas, Gustavo
Format Magazine Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington Foreign Policy 01.03.2008
Subjects
Civil war
Foreign Policy
Genocide
International disputes
International relations
Nationalism
Political corruption
Political science
Social sciences, Research
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Summary:Think of "nationalism," and you might think of a country brainwashed to hate its neighbors. When war broke out in the past, nationalism was often automatically assumed to be a party to the crime, either as a tool that would allow leaders to seduce the masses into fighting, or as fuel that stoked popular outrage. There is no denying it: nationalism has got a bad name. Modern political science generally holds that nationalism predisposes a nation's members to see outsiders as potentially inferior and evil. If nothing else, nationalism is a sense of collective unity that turns large groups into extended families. On the other hand, when citizens are nationalistic, those who might cheat will face an unpleasant trade-off: to help themselves at the expense of their brethren. As a result, nationalism today often leads citizens to look inward and focus their energies on bettering their countries.
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ISSN:0015-7228
1945-2276