Modern European history has given "nationalism" a very bad name—but what exactly is nationalism, and are the alternatives to it a better conduit to peaceful relations among nations? In The Virtue of Nationalism (2019), Israeli philosopher and author Yoram Hazony unpacks what this old notion means from the standpoint of political theory, culminating in a definition far from the stigma that European history has appended to it. Namely, “the collective right of a free people to rule themselves" and the recognition of that right in other nations, which Hazony defines in opposition to imperialism, a worldview that seeks to homogenize national arrangements towards a single, one-size-fits-all regime of laws and policies. In this interview with Jorge González-Gallarza, Prof. Hazony shares his insights into how a re-acquaintance with nationalism could guide a principled response to the EU’s proto-federalist direction of travel.
