ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an unsystematized theory of nationalism comprised of definitions, explanations, and typologies. Nationalism has proven its potency time and again through history. One feels patriotism toward one's state or government, and nationalism toward the people who constitute one's national group. Nationalism can also be classified depending on its intensity into mild or extreme nationalism. Mild nationalism is peaceable toward outsiders, whereas extreme or ultra nationalism is aggressive and xenophobic. The preoccupation with power includes feelings of national superiority, of competitiveness with other nations, and of the importance of power over other nations. Narcissistic nationalism acts as "a distorting mirror" wherein believers see their simple ethnic, religious, or territorial attributes turned into "glorious qualities". Typically, intolerant nationalists also proclaim their belief in an extreme cultural and moral relativism. Political authoritarianism is typically accompanied and exacerbated by a particular view of human nature and of the world.