Nationalism

After decades in which national identity seemed to have been forgotten and lost in place of globalization, today the world feels a renewed need for defined nations. There has been a growing number of people supporting views of multiculturalism and the secession of powers to undefined international organisations. These successions of sovereignty are made with the belief that it isn’t necessary to maintain a nationalist legacy rooted in ideas of the past. In response, populations have retreated to an identity of nationalism. In America, this has taken the form of Donald Trump’s Republican party, while in Europe, it has taken form more in populist movements that serve to disrupt the status quo of traditional parties. But nationalism isn’t just about sovereignty. Many of these movements’ key issues relate to the strengthening of national and central governments, particularly in Western Europe, France and Spain. But there are other nationalist movements that instead believe in the existence of another national identity that is different to the country which they are a part of. There are Basques, Catalans, Flemings, Scots, and Irish, but also Palestinians, Kurds, and Ukrainian secessionists. These groups also consider themselves nationalists, but their political identity and culture is opposed to those who believe in a separate nation.