The golden age of security that accompanied the first wave ofglobalisation rapidly descended into the barbarism of two world wars.
By John Thornhill
Nationalismhas long been a dirty word in Europe’s polite political circles. Manypoliticians still bristle at the term. Nationalism was the destructivefever that drove the continent mad in the first half of the 20thcentury and flared up again in the Balkans in the 1990s with murderousresults. “Nationalism is war,” said François Mitterrand, the lateFrench president.
Europe’s greatest postwar achievement has beento dilute that nationalist poison so as to make war unthinkable.Sovereignty was pooled in the European Union, the “most effectiveconflict-resolution mechanism ever devised,” according to GeorgeSchöpflin, a historian of European nationalism and Hungarian MEP.
Paradoxically,the success of European integration has now helped decontaminatenationalism, making it “safe” to fly the flag again while nationalelectorates have rejected the perceived over-centralisation of power inBrussels. French, Dutch and Irish voters voted against the EU’s reformtreaties with no fear of negative consequences. The financial crisis has also highlighted the primacy of nationstates. As they bail out banks and pump money into their economies,national governments have rarely seemed so necessary. Who said that theEU and globalisation had rendered them irrelevant?
But how willEurope react to the rise of national sentiment during this increasinglysevere downturn? In Brussels, the belief is that the EU will simplyevolve to reflect the new realities, leading to more pragmaticco-operation between member states. The fear is that escalatingcompetition between national interests will encourage protectionistinstincts, jeopardising the European ideal.