Who will lead nationalism in Europe?
Hundred years ago an epic struggle was happening in Europe about which direction of socialism will prove to be the dominant one. The question now is – who will lead nationalism in Europe? This is the most important question of today. In 2017 – in a post-Brexit and post-Trump Europe – the question certainly is not whether nationalism in Europe will return. It is already here. Liberal and socialist hegemony that has ruled for decades in the West has received a blow from it will not recover. So let us move to the next important stage. Nationalism is a worldview – and as a worldview, it has different interpretations, some of which can be contradictory.
The course of history is determined largely by geopolitics. European nationalism has become a hostage in the struggle between the global geopolitical players. Their struggle is for pure power and nothing else – and they will use all means possible.
By sensing the total lack of values in Europe, Russia uses European nationalism as a tool in its geopolitical struggle against the U.S. and Europe. President Putin, who comes from the KGB, naturally continues the politics of neo-Stalinism that recognizes nationalism as an “necessary evil” – an instrument in the struggle for global hegemony. At the same time, this creates a schizophrenic situation for the country that is multicultural domestically and fighting against nationalism of its neighbouring countries as “fascism”. People of the regime like Dugin are trying hard to camouflage this schizophrenia at least in the eyes of foreign right-wingers with ideology of Eurasianism.
However, behind the tactical nationalism there are no real values – tactical nationalism does not represent interests of European nations that are based on the ethnic principle, principle of value of citizen and the heritage of European culture. European nationalism should be led by Europeans themselves – not someone from outside.
New ideas, new narratives of nationalism in Europe are so necessary right now! Even more – realistic approach in the geostrategy is necessary for nationalism of European nations in order to resolve such contradictions like “Brexit” – success of the British nation as a geopolitical catastrophe for Europe (yes, Europe – not the EU) as a whole. For this European nationalism, I offer to consider these ideas:
Intermarium as the new core. The countries of Intermarium region have had a long experience with “values” from the East. The result of this is a vitality that Western Europe totally lacks and a tradition of national resistance that we can now observe in the politics of Poland and Hungary against the European commissars. The chance of European nationalism is in this region – nationalism for Europeans themselves. The question of Ukraine is a fundamental one – without free Ukraine, Ukraine as a geopolitical player – goal of Ukrainian nationalists – there is no free Intermarium and no hope for European future. To put it simpler – idea that nationalists can achieve a rebirth of Europe with help of Russia over the corpse of Ukraine is a stupid one.
If nationalism is the geostrategic “necessary evil” for Russia, then maybe the EU could be a geostrategic “necessary evil” for nationalists. For this I have these considerations – a new nationalist era will not start in a single, separate European country, because this country would have to withstand pressure from foreign and international influence. Poland now is experiencing this and for now performing very well – but for how long? This is why a reformed European Union could be useful so that a transition to Europe of national states would happen evolutionary – a secure block of national states, without dangers foreign intervention. It may very well not happen and EU could prove itself to bee too inflexible for this goal – in this case there is still the option of Intermarium – but it is worth trying to reform the system. Those, who just aim at allowing EU to collapse do not realize, that they might end up isolated and without a geopolitical alternative.
It is totally legitimate for any state to struggle for its influence on the global stage. Politics is not a friends club – and certainly not geopolitics. As the U.S. have the right to declare “America first!” and even Russia has the right to do so, policy of nationalists in Europe should be “Europe first!”.
“Europe first!” means to be equal in this struggle, not as subordinates to other global players and not as enemies for each other – the structural mistake of the 20th century nationalism in Europe.
This is why European nationalists have to communicate among themselves without intermediaries – without ultraliberal media nor Russian channels of communication. A new North-South axis for communication should work the best as alternative for the “West-East” paradigm that we are living now. Every two European nationalist organizations should be closer to each other than any third party of foreign powers should. The New Nationalism is a platform that could be such an alternative in era where communication and networking are so important.