Tess Gerdemann

The role and relation of nationalism regarding the EU and other international
institutions
What is the role of nationalism in International Institutions?
The United Nations and the European Union are both institutions meant to transcend
ethnocentric tendencies and focus on supranational issues countries may be ill-equipped to
handle. In recent years the electorates increased support for nationalistic parties and leaders has
created growing concern. What is this recent strain of nationalism and what factors contribute to
the rise of it? What are the roles and implications of neo-nationalism in international institutions
such as the EU and UN?
Examining nationalism
Nationalism is a recurrent theme throughout human civilizations. Governments have
historically used nationalism to distract from unpleasant circumstances and promote their
political agendas. Perhaps one of the more famous cases is Nazi Germany, in which a steady
stream of pro-German and pro-Aryan propaganda was used to misplace blame for a poor
economy away from the German government and onto minorities such as the Jewish and
disabled. As a consequence, nationalism is commonly seen as a threat to civilized governing. In
recent times, the world has seen an uncomforting and unpredicted rise in nationalism around the
globe. The trend appears especially concentrated in Europe where the close proximity of small
states has led to occasional difficulty when defining the borders between nations, particularly in
regards to the smattering of cultures across multiple state borders.
The recent uptick in nationalism is called neo-nationalism or new nationalism. Neonationalism refers to recent and new variants of nationalism. The most visible aspects in current

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European nationalism are intense reactions to transnational and global changes such as
immigration (primarily the refugee crisis), central EU decisions (transferring ultimate
sovereignty away from national governments to supranational institutions), and populist appeals
to electorate populations.
Neo-nationalism vs. nationalism
In the past, cultural homogeneity has been a consistent strain in the nationalist appeal.
Nationalists could generally rely on the rural populations to support these platforms. After World
War II an increasingly urbanized Europe has led to nationalist leaders now calling for greater
assimilation of other cultures versus complete obliteration in order to adapt to the changing
electorate composition.
The rise of EU power and neo-nationalist popularity
Around 2015 the world saw an uprising of neo-nationalism. Specifically in
Europe, nations began rejecting traditional rulings parties and electing nationalist and populist
leaders. A relationship between the European Union, the increasing popularity of neo-nationalist
parties and current events appear upon examination.
The EU: From the Marshal plan in 1947 until 1967 with the Brussels Merger
Treaty the EU saw strong consistent support and gradually expanded its powers through a
collection of primarily economy-focused acts and treaties. The Brussels Merger Treaty
established the basic bone structure of the EU governing system and began to solidify the idea of
EU as a supranational government. Between 1967 and 1986 the EU maintained its popularity.
However, in 1986 the EU began expressing a united European identity by raising the EU flag.
The flag showed the first public movement towards transitioning into one European cultural

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identity from a loose conglomerate of independent countries bound solely by economic

agreements. Up until 1986 the EU remained relatively free of Euroscepticism.
The treaty of Lisbon in 2009 ushered in an increasingly controversial era of the
EU. The treaty, aimed towards more democracy, efficiency and transparency, was created to
empower the EU to address global problems more effectively. The Lisbon treaty broadly
widened the scope of EU power from its historically economic focus to include social and
cultural issues. In 2011 the European External Action Service EEAS was launched to increase
the powers detailed in the Lisbon Treaty.
As a purely economic force, the EU was easily integrated and accepted. Once the
EU began its transition towards increased power, objections solidified. Around the time of the
Lisbon treaty and the promotion of one European identity neo-nationalism began to rise as
shown through political election results. Relationships between the variables of A.) Rising power
of the EU/ promotion of a single cultural identity and B.) The rise of nationalist political
popularity can be loosely established. Seth K. Jolly writes that supranational integration and
subnational fragmentation are not merely coincidental but related in a theoretical and predictable
way.
The rise and roots of nationalism in the EU
Nationalism usually includes a component of cultural superiority and is seen as a radical
way to conserve a group of peoples culture and power. The need to conserve a culture is a
response to perceived threats. The increased scope of power of the EU and its push for one
European identity, could be construed as a threat that globalization will slowly obscure

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distinctions between separate nationalities and cultures. This fear has caused a renewed
obsession with national identity. However, the rise of nationalism has more than one cause.
In good times people are historically more likely to be satisfied with their lives and
government. In poor times the inverse is true. During 2008-modern day period of time two
factors in particular stand out in relation to the rise of neo-nationalism in Europe. First of all, an
economic depression dubbed the worst since the 1930s by Yale has reintroduced the world to
bank failures, credit crunches, private/public defaults and massive layoffs. An increasingly
globalized economy creates global interdependence and a world experiencing the near
depression together. Countries experiencing intense economic pain were likely to develop neonationalist parties or re-introduce popular interest in existing nationalist parties. A poor economy
is often blamed on the current government administration even if unrelated to their policy
implementations. The increased power of the EU created a convenient scapegoat to blame for the
failing euro even though the economic crisis was too global for blame to rest on a single
institution. Nationalist party leaders used platforms promising decreased EU power and a return
to strong national government as the way back to economic success in order to gain support from
the electorate.
In addition a sharp uptick in national terror, primarily caused by the prevalence of
terrorist activity, the spread of global diseases and the influx of refugees has worked to increase
nationalistic tendencies. The influx of refugees increases nationalism on two fronts: first by once
emphasizing worries for national cultural conservation. Countries such as the UK who
historically have little experience with immigrants/refugees (primarily due to geography and
inaccessibility) see the massive amounts of refugees as threatening to their way of life, already
shaky economy and fairly homogenous culture. Second terrorist attacks by ethnically similar

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people to refugees have cast suspicions on all asylum-seeking peoples intentions for entering the
EU. By viewing refugees as a threat to the status quo and safety of Europe, political parties
promising increased stability (nationalist parties) have received more popular support. Terrorist
threats induce countries to promote and strengthen nationalistic tendencies. A nation is at root
liable to provide safety for their population and during times of danger and fear people want
increased government presence in order to re-establish stability. Scenarios such as these allow
nationalist parties to prey on fear by promising stronger national protection and an increased
effectiveness/power in their region (often through military means).
The spread of diseases globally has also raised fears directed at the ease of mobility and
increased globalization. With diseases such as Ebola and Zika rising in undeveloped or
developing nations, developed nations now view them with increased suspicions and decreasing
affinity for easy mobility. Similar to the threat of terrorists hiding amongst innocent refugees,
these infectious diseases lead to people calling for more rigorous screening processes and
decreased mobility of foreigners. The distrust of foreigners due to disease and terrorist activity
feeds into a greater strain of ethnocentric ideas prevalent in neo-nationalist ideology.
Nationalist parties often gain popular support by surrounding their criticism of migrants in
terms of economic pragmatism: simply not enough money and jobs to go around. The New
York Times
When referencing external mobility, the issue of internal mobility is called into play as
well. In pursuit of a single European identity, the EU created loose borders to allow almost
seamless mobility between countries within the EU. These same loose borders also allow people
with malicious intent such as terrorists to travel easily between nations. Although the borders are
fluid, law enforcement agencies in each nation operate independently to track, prevent and solve

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crimes. The flow of intelligence across borders is not seamless and requires both
intergovernmental cooperation and external government cooperation. This creates an
effectiveness gap and a lag of pertinent information. This vulnerability to threats is cited by
Eurosceptics as an irreparable flaw in the system endangering all European people. Nationalists
have gained support in light of these circumstances in the EU by calling for stronger national
borders and decreased immigration/mobility. Both policy directions strongly oppose the
principles of the EU.
Whats this mean for the EU?
The EU deals with many problems surrounding mobility, common currency and disasters.
The poor handling of the refugee influx casted doubt onto the effectiveness of the supranational
institution. The EU above all works to increase globalization and further the ease of global
transactions. As globalization becomes synonymous with failing state, the European Union has
met more significant obstacles in recent years and received waning public support making it
more difficult for them to solve problems at the root of European instability.
The European Union has slowly been eroding Europes nation-states by gradually
dismantling their sovereignty. It has robbed our countries of the right to conduct our own
national asylum policies. Salvini, Le Pen, Wilders and Christian-Stache (the Leader of the
Austrian Freedom Party)
Nationalistic instigators
All of this helps explain why the world, specifically Europe has seen a rise in
nationalism and why increased nationality has led to the decreased support and functionality of
the EU. However, neo-nationalism has come into play in other theatres as well. Russias

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aggression towards Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea are both caused by increased
nationalism. Nationalists believe that they have the right to ignore defined and accepted
territorial lines if part of (what they believe is) their population resides on the other side. For
example Russia used the fact that a significant portion of Crimea were ethnically Russian to
justify their right to annex it. Putin has used nationalism to justify territorial aggression towards
many Baltic States and Poland. These states in turn experienced a responding wave of
nationalism. With Russia essentially kicked out of the G-7 they have been busy setting one
nation against another whenever possible. Such aggression and general unrest among nations
leads to increased difficulty for institutions to operate and cooperate especially when conflicts
call into question whether certain populations belong with their cultural identity or national
identity.
Economic and social concerns
Naturally, globalists and the EU bureaucracy hate nationalist parties. In regards to
economic public policy, nationalists strive to re-raise or create barriers restricting free trade and
the movement of goods, services and people. Such restrictions are proven to result in weaker
economies and decreased GDPs. From a social policy view,,point ethnocentric/nationalist views
towards those they view as foreign or heterogeneous can create aggressive political moves
reminiscent of eras like Nazi Germany. Extreme policies proposed to stop the flow of immigrants
and refugees in order to supposedly create a stronger country ultimately do nothing but harm its
population and create tension. Nationalists are above all else anti-globalization while
international institutions are nothing if not globalized governments/operating systems. Thus,
nationalism is at odds with international governance.

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Notable nationalist political elections and parties in Europe

In Europe there are generally four types of nationalist political parties. Below is a list of the
types of nationalist parties and examples of European countries with one or more parties falling
within the category.
1.) Parties who gain support due to an ambivalent relationship with former fascists or Nazi
pasts (Austria, Hungary, Italy, Romania and France)
2.) Parties who gain support by focusing on the perceived threat of Islam (Mainly
Scandinavian nations: Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Poland, and Switzerland)
3.) Parties who gain support by restricting propaganda to threats to national identity from
ethnic minorities (Hungary, Greece, Italy and the UK)
4.) Parties who gain support by endorsing fundamentalist Christian conservatism-reactionary
agendas (Poland, Romania and Bulgaria)
Its also important when discussing nationalist political parties in Europe to consider the
variety of names they masquerade under. The following terms when used in political parties
generally refer to political ideologies with parts, if not all, of nationalistic ideas: Nationalist,
Eurosceptic, anti-immigration, conservatism, separatist, right wing populist, ultra-nationalist, and
anti-globalization parties. Populism and nationalism both stem from roots of a working man
electorate but populism tends to blame issues on the wealthy within the country while nationalist
parties generally blame issues on outsiders/foreigners or minority groups. The National Front in
France, Finlands True Finn, Jobbik in Hungary, LDPR in Russia, MHP in Turkey and the
Golden Dawn in Greece are all examples of nationalistic parties in Europe. All of the far-right
parties are playing for the same disaffected demographic and most, if not all, nationalist groups

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in Europe are represented in the European Commission by the Europe Freedom and Democracy
party.
To elaborate on Greece, the Greek debt crisis has led to the Greek people feeling punished
and shunned by the rest of the EU, in turn leading to increased support for Greek nationalist
groups within the nation. The mismanagement of the Greek debt crisis by far-right politicians
across the European continent and the clash of said parties against Greeces own equally
uncompromising nationalist party is further proof of the rise of extremist parties in Europe. In the
case of Greece there has been a push for a forced Grexit from the European Union; an extreme
and conservative solution to the debt issue.
The underlying problem is as nationalist parties gain support during these crises they in turn
exacerbate the same crises through avenues such as lack of cooperation with supranational
initiatives. Having to contend and satisfy nationalist party demands distracts European leaders
from actual policy concerns and from mending the fundamental design of the Eurozone in order
to prevent future issues.
Other case studies include the French Nationalist Parties leader self-dubbing herself Madame
Frexit (a frightening sign from the birthplace of diplomacy), Austrias far right freedom party
winning unpredicted amounts of local elections and the unprecedented public opinion change in
Sweden. Sweden, widely considered one of the best nations in Europe in regards to supporting
the international community, took in 75,000 refugees in 2015. Not long afterwards Swedish
democrats (with ties to neo-Nazis) gained a drastic rise in popular support. Sweden illustrates
how wide-ranging the right wing rise spreads in Europe and France helps indicate just how deep
the same right wing tendencies are becoming rooted.

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The similar situation of the Brexit only increases worries for the region. To stave off
Euroscepticism (introduced by the right wing United Kingdom Independence party) and ensure a
Tory win, P.M. David Cameron promised a referendum on whether or not to remain in the EU.
UKIP ultimately only won one seat in that particular election but they were the catalyst bringing
about the Brexit vote. In coming times, if the UK voted to leave the EU they could dramatically
damage the European Unions credibility in the world and legitimacy in Europe. Additionally
any decision for the UK to leave the EU would inflame tensions with Scotland who recently
barely voted to remain part of the UK mostly due to the benefits of EU membership. Leaving the
EU would call back into play the intense nationalist politics in Scotland, further destabilizing the
UK, a current world power at the time of the Brexit debate. UKIP is strongly opposed to
immigrants and refugees and attempted to implement policy lowering the amount of foreign
people allowed to work and live in the UK.
A little public rebranding can mask a long history of xenophobic ugliness The Times on the
Rise of Nationalist Right-Wing parties
Responses to growing nationalism
In 2000 the Freedom Party (FPOs) joined the Austrian government system. They were an
anti-immigration and Eurosceptic party which used aggression and racism to promote popularity.
The EU was appalled and imposed sanctions upon Austria by suspending diplomatic relations
with Vienna until the party was disbanded. Nowadays, extremely similar parties have risen to
greater popularity with the EU simply standing by. To use a German word the issues these parties
represent have become more common sentiments to express or salonfaehig passable topics for
the living room.

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Looking forward
Nationalist movements are affecting countries worldwide. China has increasingly grown
territorially aggressive by building artificial islands in the South China Sea as a way to stake
claim on the entire body of water. The strategy doesnt hold up in international law but the
frenzied nationalistic energy of China has led to their continued pursuit of the project in order to
control the trade and mobility of other countries in the South China Sea. The movement is poor
practice for the Chinese economy because decreasing free trade negatively influences economies.
Due to the influence of the Chinese economy globally, a downturn in their economy would most
likely negatively affect many other nations and regions.
In the United States, Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has gained support primarily
from rural populations with promises to stop Mexican immigration to the U.S. and by threatening
extreme action against terror threats. These are well-documented indications of nationalist parties
and can be seen mirrored in European politics.
Until the global economy improves, its historically implied people will continue looking
for something to blame for the near depression and turn to the promises of nationalist parties to
return stability. Specifically in the EU, as greater integration is pushed, fears of losing national
identities will continue to result in increasing nationalist support as a means of preservation. The
rise of nationalism leads to poor operation in international institutions when leaders are forced to
deal with radical nationalist issues such as petty territorial aggression, and violent racism instead
of on important policy changes to solve the underlying supranational issues. The lack of public
support for international institutions during nationalist upticks leads to slow function and
decreased ability for international institutions to operate which in turn continues to stoke

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nationalist flames. Overall nationalism is bred from citizen dissatisfaction and the nationalist
support ultimately creates worse circumstances by creating inefficiency in governing systems.
Nationalism and international institutions operate at direct odds to each other.

Works Cited
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2016.
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Bremmer, Ian. "This Is Why the Far Right Is on the Rise in Europe." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 27 May
2016.
"Economist's View." Populism vs. Nationalism. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2016.

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