Why the ‘New Nationalism’ Can Only Flourish in Conflict

Built on Hatred, and the Need for an Adversary, It Thrives on Contempt for Other Cultures, Religions, and Even Languages

Nationalism as we know it today—a global movement of states led by strongmen decrying globalization—is a recent invention. But a brief and broad history of nationalism reveals its important paradoxes and possibly a new way of understanding the current version.

Before the 19th century, most peoples, in most parts of the world, did not live in nations, but in those larger conglomerations of peoples we call loosely “empires”—or as they were often known, “universal monarchies.” Most of today’s nations are the creatures of imperial collapse: Germany, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, …

Why Taiwan Would Be Better Off Neutral

A Citizen of Switzerland and Sweden Argues That a Stance of Non-Aggression Can Protect Small, Vulnerable Democracies

How can Taiwan best defend its democracy from the explicit threats of mainland China—and the security machinations of great powers in the Pacific?

Neutrality might be the answer.

I was born and …

How the EU’s Greek Tragedy Became a British Farce

Out-of-Touch Elites Have Themselves to Blame for Losing Voters to "Populism"

British citizens took to the polls to cast their “Leave” ballots—and their grievances—in the now-infamous Brexit vote last June, seeking to escape the overarching power of the European Union. Their …

The Cure for Your #Regrexit Democratic Hangover

For Remorseful Brits and Other Voters Who Found Themselves Uninformed on a Major Decision, Experiments in the Western U.S. Could Solve Ballot Measure Blues

The #Regrexit hashtag encapsulates Britain’s morning-after regrets since a referendum in which nearly 52 percent of voters opted to leave the European Union. A Daily Mail poll estimates that more …

Brexit Succeeded by Playing to Britons’ Imperial Nostalgia

Searching to Become “Great” Again, British Voters Ignored Their Empire’s More Recent History

Shortly after the result of Britain’s referendum on the European Union was declared last week, an academic colleague remarked to me, “the final curse of the empire is that the …

Latin America Is Finally Acknowledging the Crisis of Democracy in Venezuela

The New Leader of the Organization of American States Has Openly Rebuked the Country’s ‘Petty Dictator,’ but It May Be Too Late to Avert Disaster

At least on paper, both Europe and the Americas seem equally committed to being democracies-only clubs, willing to defend and preserve the rule of law in member nations. In practice, …