Human Nature, Nationalism and Cosmopolitism

• Autores: Guido Montali
• Localización: Il politico: rivista italiana di scienze politiche, ISSN 0032-325X, Nº. 231, 2012, págs. 68-90
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • One key issue bound up with the cultural changes prompted by globalization is the relationship between nationalism and cosmopolitism. This paper explores the notion of human nature to look at why, though people feel more sympathy for their neighbours, this sympathy does not prevent them from belonging to a wider political community. Scholars of international relations should consider the present experience of European integration carefully. After WWII, thanks to supranational institutions, Europe managed to overcome the main contradictions between nationalism and cosmopolitism. National sovereignties can � and must � be pooled in common supranational institutions. In a system of sovereign nation states nationalism and cosmopolitism are necessarily at odds; in a federal system national identity is compatible with a cosmopolitan identity. The essay concludes that national democracy and the nation state are in crisis because more and more problems are now global, and require a global solution. Global supranational institutions are the answer. This new phase of civilization can only be achieved if cosmopolitan federalism and cosmopolitan democracy proceed pari passu. Human nature is not an obstacle.