A recent article in the journal , "Us and Them: The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism," has provoked anoutpouring of commentary. Jerry Muller,professor of history at The Catholic University of America, writes thatAmericans generally belittle the role of ethnic nationalism in politics, partlybecause of their own experience living in a country of immigrants where ?ethnicidentities are attenuated by cultural assimilation and intermarriage." However, Professor Muller argues that thenarrative of 20th century European history reveals that nationalismtwice led to war ? in 1914 and again in 1939. By last year there were only two European states ? Switzerland andBelgium ? without what he calls a ?single overwhelmingly dominantnationality.? Since the end of the ColdWar, ethno-nationalism has continued to reshape borders ? in the formerYugoslavia, the former Czechoslovakia, the former Soviet Union, as well as thetwo Germanies (East and West). According to Professor Muller, one finds a similar tension in a numberof predominantly Muslim countries ? such as Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, andBangladesh ? as well as in the Jewish state of Israel and in the Palestinianterritories.
Jerry Muller suggests there are two majorways of thinking about ?national identity.? Speaking with host Judith Latham of VOA News Now?s and with VOA Eurasian Division broadcaster Jela De Franceschi,Professor Muller says one is that ?people who live within a country?s borders?are part of the ?nation? regardless of their ethnic, racial, or religiousorigins. The United States, especiallyover the past 40 years, conforms to this model, he suggests. But the way of conceptualizing?national identity? is bound up with a ?shared heritage,? which is based on acommon language, a common faith, and a common ethnic ancestry.
Former empires ? such as the Habsburg, Russian, andOttoman empires ? were composed of numerous ethic groups. And as they dissolved during the First WorldWar period, Jerry Muller says, minorities in these lands became ?especiallyvulnerable? ? Hungarians in Romania, the former Czechoslovakia, and Serbia;ethnic Germans in the new Soviet Union; Greeks and Armenians in the new Turkishstate; and Jews and Roma (Gypsies) everywhere. In the late 20th century and early 2st century,Professor Muller argues, ethnic minorities discovered that ?not to have ahomeland, a place to retreat,? could be ?dangerous? if they came underpolitical pressure in countries where they were minority populations ? forexample, in the Balkans and in the former Soviet Union. And, he says it can result in situationswhere political leaders try to ?mobilize the ethnic majority against the ethnicminority,? which can in turn set the stage for ?more violence conflict.?
Jerry Muller suggests that identification alongethnic lines serves several ?psychological functions.? Ethnic commonality in situations ofmulti-ethnicity, for example, can create a ?degree of trust? among members ofthe same ethnic group. In mosttraditional societies, he notes, people are primarily ?bound by blood? in thesense of family, clan, or tribal attachments. In contrast, in modern states that are ?capable of creating some degreeof the rule of law,? people are not so dependent on their blood relations, so?those older forms of attachment? tend to fade, especially as people becomemore urbanized. But Professor Mullersays it still leaves people with a desire for some larger group they want toview themselves as a part of, and that often leads to the rise of?ethno-nationalist feelings.? In somecases, these groups have ?their own histories? and nurture their grievancesagainst other ethnic groups. But, hesays, one way to get beyond the ?ethnocentric perspective? is to see the mutualgains from ?trade? in its widest sense, for example, the benefits of membershipin the European Union.
However, in some cases Jerry Muller says, ?partitionalong ethnic lines? may offer what he calls a ?more lasting solution." Partition often works best, he argues, with?some movement of the population? so as to avoid having ?smaller and smallerislands within some larger ethnic totality.? Regarding Kosovo, Professor Muller suggests that a partition of areaswhere Serbs form a ?substantial minority? combined with a ?movement of peopleas refugees? might create a ?more desirable long-term solution.? He thinks that in recent decades, the?triumph of the idea that each nation should have its own state? may have ?setthe stage for greater cosmopolitanism.?