This is the argument made in a book review, or rather a book summary from Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern. The book is The Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony, an Israeli academic and the argument is that you have a binary choice between Nationalism and Imperialism. Nazism was in fact a form of imperialism and it was nationalism that defeated Nazism.
The book defines nationalism as:
“a principled standpoint that regards the world as governed best when nations are able to chart their own independent course, cultivating their own traditions and pursuing their own interests without interference.” (p3). Hazony explains that “this is opposed to imperialism, which seeks to bring peace and prosperity to the world by uniting mankind, as much as possible under a single political regime.”
You will observe that this a quite a benign definition of nationalism. It is worth observing that it can be as benign as that in the abstract but first, also encompasses the ideology of the nation or state aligning with each other[1] and further that this tends to align with ethno-cultural identity. Secondly, that nationalism is rarely experienced as an abstract, generalised concept but tends to be expressed as a concern, a belief for one’s own nation. Again, at its most benign, it will be expressed as a desire for independence, especially where a smaller nation believes that it has been subsumed into a larger whole, for example with Scottish Nationalism, or indeed in the case of the author’s own nation of Israel and the battle for recognition whilst surrounded by other nations desiring its destruction with the support of antisemitism. However, nationalism is often expressed in terms of ethnic superiority requiring ethnic purity and policies that advance both that superiority and purity.
This is why I think the argument made in the review, which I assume accurately reflects the book is mistaken. Nazi Germany may have been acting as an imperialist power, however, imperialism in that regard is designed to serve the purposes of the nation, indeed as it did with the previous German Reich that led to the First World War. Further, Britian and France were at that time imperial powers with empires and colonies. The US has arguably acted as an imperial power for much of the 20th and into the 21st century and if MAGA is a nationalist ideology, whether seen as positive, benign or malign, the actions of Donald Trump towards Venezuela, Ukraine, Gaza, Iran and Greenland may be seen as both imperialistic in terms of an attempt to influence and control other nations or territories and to serve the nationalist agenda of the USA. In the case of Nazi Germany, the intent was to extend the influence and maintain the purity of a perceived master race, in other words, it very clearly demonstrates the characteristics of ethno-cultural nationalism.
The review goes on to say:
Hazony explains how the Bible articulates a vision of independent nations. Israel’s calling was to be an independent nation – not seeking territorial expansion. The Israelites are explicitly told not to expand their territory into that of the neighbouring nations (Deuteronomy 2:4-19). Israel’s prophets were frequently concerned with the activities of imperialistic empires – Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia. As Hazony puts it: “The Bible puts a new political conception on the table: a state of a single nation that is unified, self-governing, and uninterested in bringing its neighbours under its rule.” (p19).
It’s worth noting that a common theme at the moment has been to read anachronistically back into what God says to ancient Israel and into Bible passages about the nations and the borders support for modern nation states. This is anachronistic because the current make up of the nations bears little resemblance to the nations of the Hebrew Scriptures.
As for the specifics of Deuteronomy 2:4-19, unfortunately this passage doesn’t particularly support the claim that the Israelites were told not to expand their territory. The passage is specifically about the instructions given to Israel when passing through Moab during their Exodus from Egypt to the promised land. Of course, later under David and Solomon, the kingdom would be expanded.
Was Nazism defeated by nationalism? Well, the aim of the allies may have been to restore independence to European states. However, consider the following. First, that as observed above, the nations who defeated Nazi Germany were imperialistic powers. This of course includes Russia, who in fact used victory to impose their own imperialism onto Eastern Europe and parts of Germany. Secondly, the leaders of those powers saw the very internationalist institutions that Hazony seems to be critiquing, namely The EU (as it would become), the UN and we might add NATO as the ongoing solutions to future horrors of the kind inflicted by the Nazis.
Secondly, we need to be careful that we do not conflate the defeat of a political/military power with the defeat of Nazism. Indeed, there seems to have been little awareness or use of the horrors of the underlying ideology, namely The Holocaust in the rationale for the war effort. The liberation of those in the concentration camps and the end of gas chambers may have been a vital fruit of victory but that was not the primary aim.
Dieppe’s article is not so much a review as a summary and endorsement. It fails to properly critique the arguments made in the book. Rather, it uses a book to support an argument that has grown increasingly prevalent. At the heart of this are two false dichotomies. In this case, that there is a binary choice between nationalism and imperialism. Frequently in the current debate, the dichotomy is made between Christian Nationalism and Secular Nationalism. These dichotomies ignore that the Gospel and God’s Kingdom offer an alternative to all nationalisms and all imperialisms.
Now, I hope it hasn’t escaped your attention that the review article was published in 2019. This isn’t a recent article. Christian Concern have been publishing a number of articles in support of nationalism and specifically Christian Nationalism for a while. It is helpful to see the roots of current Christian Nationalism going back, prior to the pandemic into lazy and faulty thinking.
Faithroots 