Abstract
Current events have created fears and uncertainties about peace in Europe and in the world as a whole. These concerns are a response to the rise of Vladimir Putin and the Russian-nationalist policies he has pursued vis-à-vis the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere; Brexit—the British referendum calling for U.K. withdrawal from the European Union (EU); the emergence of an America-first, nationalist rhetoric in the Trump administration in the United States; and rising nationalist sentiments in other European countries. Do these events mark the beginning of the end of the multilateralist, liberal order that has avoided general war and sustained the European peace? More specifically, are we returning to the kind of realist geopolitics among states that prevailed prior to the two world wars and, for that matter, in previous centuries? Given the rise of this nationalism, how durable are the liberal institutions and norms of the post-World War II and post-Cold War orders?
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Notes
- 1.
Putin is quoted as saying: “The greatest criminals in our history were those weaklings who threw power on the floor—Nicholas II and Mikhail Gorbachev—who allowed power to be picked up by hysterics and madmen.” Putin reveres both Tsar Nicholas II and Stalin. See the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore (2017: 656–657).
- 2.
These were made as part of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) process that was institutionalized at the end of the Cold War as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
- 3.
In one anthology of essays by 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts, the consensus is that he suffers from malignant narcissism defined as including narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), antisocial behavior, paranoid traits, and sadism. Consistent with this assessment, one author identifies Trump with solipsism—seeing the world with oneself as the lens. See Lee (2017: 94–95, 114–115 et passim). Chronicling the turbulence of the president’s first year in office is Wolff (2018).
- 4.
The principal organs of the UN are the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat.
- 5.
Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
- 6.
That each king, duke or other prince could establish the religion of the inhabitants within his territorial domain (cujus regio, ejus religio) was core to the emergent concept of sovereignty.
- 7.
- 8.
Chancellor (Prince) von Hardenberg and the diplomat, Wilhelm Humboldt, represented Prussia, directed by King Frederick William III who was also in Vienna. The Prussian role in these deliberations were decidedly less important than efforts by Metternich, Talleyrand and others.
- 9.
The “Sinews of Peace” or “Iron Curtain Speech” delivered at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, March 5, 1946.
- 10.
At the time of this writing, investigations are still underway by the Special Counsel within the Justice Department of any collusion in 2016 between the Trump campaign and Russia as well as whether efforts have been taken by the president or his agents to impede or obstruct the investigation. Some observers also allege loans made by Russian lenders to (and money laundering by Russian operatives using) Trump business affiliates. The impact of these matters on the November 2018 Congressional elections is unclear. Whether legal findings will be confined to participants in the Trump campaign (some have already been charged) or, more broadly, will engulf the Trump administration remains a central legal and political question.
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Viotti, P. (2019). Nationalism vs. Internationalism: Fears, Uncertainties and Geopolitics in Europe. In: Belloni, R., Della Sala, V., Viotti, P. (eds) Fear and Uncertainty in Europe . Global Issues. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91965-2_3
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