Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Identity matters. The need to express and protect who we are as individuals and nations is one of the most powerful societal forces in existence. This form of collective self-reference for the nation becomes a political expression that contours the national interest and underwrites its foreign policy. Since the ravages unleashed by nationalism in the twentieth century, the world has experienced more peacetime than it has in centuries. However, a concoction of neo-imperial ventures into the Middle East, a cataclysmic financial crisis and the rise of the new frontier of cyber warfare are causing a breakdown of the libertarian world order. Are we now witnessing the rise of a mutative nationalism infused with populism? The spread of right-wing populism across Europe, the appeal of Trumpian politics and an unresolved migration crisis that has challenged the very moral efficacy of the Westphalian Order, is giving way to what this paper coins as, Nationalsim 2.0. This paper explores a theoretical redefinition of nationalism and as such, its practical effect on the understanding of states’ national interest and thus, the practice of foreign policy. Equipped with technology, real-time media and a saturation of information, Nationalism 2.0 is destroying the Manichean lines of Truth and Falsehood to carve out a new world order. What will be the consequence for civilisation: extreme entrenchment or hyper-globalisation?