Craig Murray — No Need For Nato

Also

Of course, it didn't hurt that the path was paved with money.

Human Rights Imperialism: A path paved with good intentions

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This essay began as a book review on „The Virtue of Nationalism“ written by Yoram Hazony, who is a political scientist and president of the Herzl-Institute in Jerusalem. Yet the piece grew well out of a mere review because Hazony account is so penetrating that I couldn’t help expanding on some of the most virulent themes. No doubt this book is something many conservative minds have been waiting for. It goes straight to the heart of tough questions of religion and family, still very controversial in liberal polite society. Hazony like Herzl is a committed Zionist, yet not of the old liberal but the new religious persuasion. As an Israeli he strides virgin territories, seldom touched on in by the European enlightenment, namely the unique world of Oriental clans and tribes - perfectly alien to the Western liberal imagination, yet at the same time appealing for those with an affinity to the Middle East.

A book on the virtues of nationalism could barely have come more timely. It will be read almost certainly with enthusiasm by many eastern Europeans who are constantly chastized by the western media for their post-communist embrace of nationalism, family and religion - a blessed source of identity they have been deprived of for the best part of the last century. But meanwhile in the West too nationalism is back with a vengeance. The new Catalonian quest for independence, rumors about Irish unification, Brexit itself and Trump‘s America First are but the most popular examples. On top of that comes a refreshingly particularist Italian government, hostile to the Germanophile European Empire and instead looking at President Putin for inspiration. The Russian president himself just delivered for his fourth term a state budget with a decisive nationalist flavour literally turning swords into ploughs: he cut defense by 20 % and is keen on chanelling the new cash into domestic infrastructure. By this Vladimir Putin again took the lead among the group of heretical nationalists eager to challeneg liberal globalism in the name of political self-determination.

This is close to what Hazony‘s book is about to promulgate. It is also a rare piece of Israeli communication about risk taking in an experimental political culture. For as a nation Israel is still „in the making“ because after 70 years its right to exist is still regularly being challenged. Personal disclosure: I had the pleasure to live in Jerusalem during 2011 and made the acquaintance of Hazony‘s family. He and his wife Yael, who are both scholars and th the same time raising ten children. There can be little doubt that Hazony‘s book runs against the grain of the liberal consensus in many respects. This makes it extremely stimulating and inspiring for conservatives and a perfect antidot to the pastime of Trump bashing.