Few forces have shaped modern history more profoundly than nationalism. It has dissolved empires and created states, inspired liberation movements and fueled genocides, unified populations and torn societies apart. Understanding nationalism—its varieties, drivers, and consequences—remains essential for comprehending contemporary politics, from the rise of populist movements in Western democracies to ethnic conflicts in the Global South to great power competition between China, Russia, and the West.
What Is Nationalism?¶
At its simplest, nationalism is the belief that the nation should be the primary unit of political organization. This seemingly straightforward claim contains several contested elements:
The nation is not the same as the state. A state is a political-legal entity with territory, government, and sovereignty. A nation is a community that believes itself to share a common identity—typically based on language, culture, history, ethnicity, religion, or some combination thereof. Nationalism demands that these two align: that every nation should have its own state, and every state should contain one nation.
Political primacy means that loyalty to the nation supersedes other affiliations—class, religion, family, ideology. The nationalist asks first: what serves my nation? Other considerations follow.
Self-determination extends logically from nationalist premises. If nations are the legitimate units of politics, then each nation has the right to govern itself. This principle has justified both liberation from colonial rule and separatist movements that fragment existing states.
The scholar Benedict Anderson famously described nations as “imagined communities”—not because they are unreal, but because members of even the smallest nation will never meet most of their fellow nationals, yet they imagine themselves as part of a bounded community with shared fate. This imagination is constructed through education, media, symbols, and the stories a society tells about itself.
Types of Nationalism¶
Nationalism manifests in multiple forms:
Civic nationalism defines the nation by shared political values, institutions, and citizenship rather than ethnic or cultural identity. France’s revolutionary nationalism, American constitutional patriotism, and post-war German identification with democratic institutions exemplify this variant. In principle, anyone can become a member of the nation by adopting its values and gaining citizenship.
Ethnic nationalism defines the nation by ancestry, blood, and cultural heritage. One is born into the nation; outsiders cannot fully join regardless of legal citizenship. This form predominates in much of Central and Eastern Europe, parts of Asia, and wherever national identity formed through struggle against foreign rule.
Religious nationalism fuses national and religious identity. Zionism, Hindu nationalism in India, and various forms of political Islam blend theological and national claims. For adherents, the nation has divine sanction; its territory is sacred; its enemies are enemies of God.
Economic nationalism prioritizes national economic interests over global efficiency, advocating protection of domestic industries, control over key sectors, and resistance to foreign economic influence. This variant has resurged with geoeconomic competition and supply chain vulnerabilities.
Cultural nationalism emphasizes preservation of national traditions, language, and heritage against homogenizing global influences. This form often manifests as resistance to immigration, foreign media, or international institutions perceived as threatening distinctive identity.
In practice, these types overlap and blend. Most nationalisms combine elements of civic and ethnic definition; economic and cultural concerns intertwine with identity politics.
Historical Development¶
Modern nationalism emerged from specific historical conditions:
The French Revolution (1789) transformed subjects into citizens and proclaimed that sovereignty resided in the nation rather than the monarch. The revolutionary armies that swept across Europe carried this idea with them, even as they imposed French rule that would generate nationalist resistance.
Romanticism in the early nineteenth century celebrated folk cultures, national languages, and distinctive traditions against Enlightenment universalism. German thinkers like Herder and Fichte articulated the concept of the Volk—the people as an organic community with its own spirit expressed through language and culture.
Nation-building in the nineteenth century saw deliberate construction of national identities through mass education, military conscription, national media, and state symbolism. As Eugen Weber showed, “peasants became Frenchmen” through sustained institutional effort.
Decolonization in the twentieth century extended the nationalist principle globally. Anti-colonial movements from India to Algeria to Vietnam demanded self-determination, adapting European nationalist ideas to their own contexts. The number of sovereign states exploded from roughly 50 in 1945 to nearly 200 today.
Post-Cold War resurgence followed the collapse of communist ideology. In the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, nationalism filled the ideological vacuum, sometimes with catastrophic results. Meanwhile, globalization’s disruptions generated nationalist backlash in established democracies.
Drivers of Contemporary Nationalism¶
Several forces fuel nationalism’s current prominence:
Globalization backlash responds to economic displacement, cultural change, and perceived sovereignty erosion. Workers who lost jobs to outsourcing, communities transformed by immigration, and citizens who feel distant from transnational institutions often turn to nationalist movements promising to restore control.
Identity politics has intensified across the political spectrum. As older sources of meaning—religion, class, community—weaken, national identity offers belonging and purpose. The nationalist can answer the question “who am I?” with clarity.
Migration and demographic change trigger anxiety about cultural continuity and national character. Both real and perceived changes in population composition become mobilizing issues for nationalist movements.
Great power competition makes nationalism strategically useful. Beijing promotes “national rejuvenation”; Moscow invokes Russian civilization against Western decadence; nationalist rhetoric features in American debates about China and trade. States cultivate nationalism to legitimize their rule and mobilize populations.
Digital amplification enables nationalist messages to spread rapidly, form online communities, and bypass traditional media gatekeepers. Social media algorithms that maximize engagement tend to favor emotionally resonant content—and nationalism provides powerful emotional appeals.
Nationalism’s Double Edge¶
Nationalism has served both liberation and oppression:
Positive functions include providing social cohesion, enabling collective action, motivating sacrifice for common goods, and offering dignity to peoples formerly subordinated. The anti-colonial movements that ended European empires drew on nationalist sentiment; without nationalism, modern democracy might never have developed.
Destructive manifestations include ethnic cleansing, genocide, and aggressive war. The same force that unified Italy and Germany also produced fascism. The nationalism that liberated colonies sometimes turned against internal minorities. From Armenian genocide to the Holocaust to Rwanda, nationalism at its worst has enabled humanity’s greatest crimes.
This ambivalence is not accidental. Nationalism’s power derives from its ability to define an “us”—but every “us” implies a “them.” How the boundary is drawn, and what treatment “they” receive, determines whether nationalism unifies or destroys.
Contemporary Manifestations¶
Nationalism takes distinctive forms across regions:
In the United States, “America First” nationalism challenges liberal internationalism, emphasizing border control, trade protection, and skepticism of alliances and international institutions. This represents a departure from the post-1945 consensus in which American leadership of the international order served American interests.
In Europe, nationalist parties have grown from fringe movements to governing partners in multiple countries. Immigration, EU sovereignty constraints, and cultural change drive support. Yet European nationalism is fragmented: Hungarian nationalism differs from French, which differs from Swedish.
In India, Hindu nationalism under the BJP challenges the secular founding principles of the Indian state, defining India as a Hindu nation in which religious minorities hold uncertain status. This represents the largest democratic experiment in religious nationalism.
In China, the Communist Party has increasingly relied on nationalism to legitimize its rule as communist ideology fades. Historical grievances, territorial claims in the South China Sea and regarding Taiwan, and great power status aspirations all feature in official nationalism.
In Russia, nationalism has become intertwined with imperial nostalgia, Orthodox Christianity, and resistance to Western values. Putin’s justification for the Ukraine invasion drew heavily on nationalist themes denying Ukrainian nationhood.
The Future of Nationalism¶
Several scenarios might unfold:
Nationalist competition could intensify, fragmenting global governance, disrupting trade, and raising conflict risks. A world of competing nationalisms might resemble the early twentieth century—with the difference that nuclear weapons make great power war catastrophic.
Civic nationalism might revive, offering inclusive national identities that maintain social cohesion without ethnic exclusion. This would require sustained political effort to define national identity in ways that accommodate diversity.
Post-national forms could emerge as climate change, technology, and economic integration create challenges that transcend national boundaries. But the demise of nationalism has been predicted before—usually by those who underestimated its emotional power.
Hybrid equilibrium seems most likely: nationalism remains powerful but is constrained by interdependence, institutions, and competing identities. States navigate between nationalist pressures and international requirements, satisfying neither fully.
What remains certain is that nationalism—for better and worse—will continue to shape politics. Those who understand its appeals, varieties, and dangers will be better equipped to navigate the world it creates.