The Virtue of Nationalism
| Company type | Book |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founder | Yoram Hazony |
The Virtue of Nationalism is a 2018 publication authored by Israeli-American political philosopher Yoram Hazony.
Contents
Hazony argues that the nation-state represents the most successful governing structure developed so far, setting it apart from historical empires and contemporary global entities such as those connected to the United Nations, including the International Court of Justice. He maintains that nationalism uniquely guarantees "the collective right of a free people to govern themselves."
According to Hazony, national identity is founded not on racial criteria but on "bonds of mutual loyalty" formed through a shared culture and historical experience, which unite various groups into a cohesive national community. This unity builds trust, facilitating the creation of social and moral benefits like civil and political freedoms.
He points out that, unlike organizations such as the European Union, where member countries are subject to joint decisions, each nation-state establishes its own distinct systems and standards. These serve as autonomous experiments that others may observe and potentially adopt to enhance governance.
Hazony contends that protection of individual rights has historically been most effective within nation-states—especially in England and the United States—in contrast to universal political frameworks that tend to suppress tolerance for diverse political and religious perspectives. He criticizes globalizing progressive elites for advancing a “global rule of law” that undermines cultural diversity, patriotism, and religious conviction. In Hazony’s view, globalists spread “anti-nationalist hate” and actively resist cultural particularism. He characterizes liberal internationalism as an imperialist ideology designed to discredit nationalist movements worldwide.
Israel and the European Union
Hazony draws attention to the differing attitudes toward nationalism held by Europeans compared to Israelis. In November 1942, upon receiving news of widespread Jewish massacres, Israel’s founding Prime Minister Ben Gurion observed that Jews lacked political recognition, military power, sovereignty, and a national homeland.
Criticism
John Fonte of the National Review acclaimed Virtue as potentially a classic work. The book was awarded the Paolucci Book Award by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in February 2019.
Conversely, Justin Vogt of The New York Times criticized Hazony’s portrayal as overly simplistic, framing an inaccurate binary between sovereign nation-states and global totalitarianism, thereby missing an opportunity for a more sophisticated defense of nationalism. Additional critiques targeted Hazony’s definitional framework; Park MacDougald from New York’’s Intelligencer remarked that Hazony reasons from idealized concepts rather than practical realities. Likewise, Samuel Goldman, a professor at George Washington University writing in Modern Age, described Hazony’s terminology as unclear and counterproductive.
Several reviewers noted that Hazony’s advocacy for nationalism largely omits engagement with the extensive existing scholarship on nationalism’s history, possibly to cater to his intended readership. Michael Shindler in Jacobite observed that Hazony’s theory primarily draws upon recent Israeli and Anglo-American scholarship—such as Fania Oz-Salzberger’s The Jewish Roots of Western Freedom and Philip Gorski’s The Mosaic Moment—which presents nationalism through the lens of the biblical Israeli model while neglecting the broader 19th-century nationalist tradition. This exclusion is significant given that tradition’s acknowledgment of nationalism’s complexities and critical perspectives.