ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to explore the foundation of the rise of Western civilisation, and the threats from the contemporary dogma of liberal absolutism, universalism, and civic nationalism. It argues that the foundation for the rise of Western civilisation has been the balance between ethno-cultural distinctiveness and civic nationalism based on liberal principles. Liberal absolutism and universalism unravels the balance between ethno-cultural and civic nationalism. The lure of liberal universalism is to bridge humanity by transcending chaos and the irrational in favour of the rational and orderly. The ability to alter failed policies by constraining liberalism is prevented by the rise of liberal authoritarianism. The European nation-state is an amalgam between traditional ethno-cultural and liberal civic identity. The subsequent balance between community and society has made the nation-state the most powerful entity, as the distinctive was harnessed by the state as the foundation of unity.
