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Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific interests.[1][2][3] Ultranationalist entities have been associated with the engagement of political violence even during peacetime.[4] The belief system has also been cited as the inspiration for acts of organized mass murder in the context of international conflicts, with the Cambodian genocide being cited as an example.[5]
In ideological terms, scholars such as the British political theorist Roger Griffin have found that ultranationalism arises from seeing modern nation-states as living organisms which are directly akin to physical people because they can decay, grow, and die, and additionally, they can experience rebirth. In stark mythological ways, political campaigners have divided societies into those societies which are perceived as being degenerately inferior and those societies which are perceived as having great cultural destinies. Ultranationalism is an aspect of fascism, with historic governments such as the regimes of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany building on ultranationalist foundations by using specific plans for supposed widespread national renewal.[3]
Ultranationalist characters have served as villains in multiple works of fictional media with popular acclaim as well. Examples the dramatic productions Air Force One and Incitement, both being action films.[6][7]
British political theorist Roger Griffin has stated that ultranationalism is essentially founded on xenophobia in a way that finds supposed legitimacy "through deeply mythicized narratives of past cultural or political periods of historical greatness or of old scores to settle against alleged enemies". It can also draw on "vulgarized forms" of different aspects of the natural sciences such as anthropology and genetics, eugenics specifically playing a role, in order "to rationalize ideas of national superiority and destiny, of degeneracy and subhumanness" in Griffin's opinion. Ultranationalists view the modern nation-state as, according to Griffin, a living organism directly akin to a physical person such that it can decay, grow, die, and additionally experience rebirth. He has highlighted Nazi Germany as a regime which was founded on ultranationalism.[3]
Ultranationalist activism can adopt varying attitudes towards historical traditions within the populace. For instance, the British Union of Fascists inside the United Kingdom adopted a secularist-minded platform centered on perceived technological progress. In contrast, the Iron Guard inside Romania utilized a hardline form of mysticism-driven religion to encourage determination among the nation's ultranationalists. Nonetheless, obsessive views on ethnicity and other divisions as well as connecting politics to motifs of sacrifice generally constitute the psychological framework behind these movements.[3]
According to American scholar Janusz Bugajski, summing up the doctrine in practical terms, "in its most extreme or developed forms, ultra-nationalism resembles fascism, marked by a xenophobic disdain of other nations, support for authoritarian political arrangements verging on totalitarianism, and a mythical emphasis on the 'organic unity' between a charismatic leader, an organizationally amorphous movement-type party, and the nation". Bugajski believes that civic nationalism and the related concept of patriotism both can contain significantly positive elements, contributing to the common social good at times such as during national calamities. These doctrines stand in contrast, in his opinion, to the extreme approach of certain ideologies with more irrational actions.[8]
American historian Walter Skya has written in Japan's Holy War: The Ideology of Radical Shinto Ultranationalism that ultranationalism in Japan drew upon traditional Shinto spiritual beliefs and militaristic attitudes regarding the nation's racial identity. By the early twentieth century, fanaticism arising from this combination of ethnic nationalism and religious nationalism caused opposition to democratic governance and support for Japanese territorial expansion. Skya particularly noted in his work the connection between ultranationalism and political violence by citing how, between 1921 and 1936, three serving and two former Prime Ministers of Japan were assassinated. The totalitarian Japanese government of the 1930s and 1940s did not just rely on encouragement by the country's military, it also received widespread popular support.[4]
The Cambodian historian Sambo Manara has found that the belief system sets forth a vision of supremacism in terms of international relations whereby xenophobia or hatred of foreigners to the point of extremism leads to policies of social separation and segregation. He has argued that the Cambodian genocide is a specific example of this ideology when it is applied in practice. "Obviously, it was ultranationalism, combined with the notion of class struggle in communism and a group of politicians, which lead to the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea, a ruthless regime which claimed approximately three million lives", he has remarked, with militant leaders finally deciding to "cut all diplomatic and economic ties with almost all countries" due to a "narrow-minded doctrine without taking into account all the losses they would face". In Manara's opinion, "this effectively destroyed the nation."[5]
The absolute dictatorship of the Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu has also been described as an example of communism taking an ultranationalist approach by Haaretz. The Israeli publication cited the antisemitism of the dictator in terms of actions such as his historical denialism of the Holocaust. Ceausescu also made efforts to purge Romanians who had Jewish backgrounds from positions of political authority.[9]
Haaretz has also labeled the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban an ultranationalist, due to his views on autocratic rule and racial identity, particularly, Orban's public condemnation of "race-mixing".[9] He's also been called an ultranationalist by NPR, an American news agency, citing his opposition to democratic liberalism.[10]
In late 2015, the Israeli political journalist Gideon Levy wrote that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has led to the decay of the civil society within Israel, with an ultranationalist movement that "bases its power on incitement to hatred" using "folkloric religion" gaining ground over decades so that:
"They were the only ones willing to fight for a collective goal. They did not rule out any means. They extorted and exploited the weaknesses of government, the guilt feelings and confusion of the secular camp, and they won. They did so systematically and smartly: First they established the foundation of their existence, the settlement enterprise. After they achieved their goal– the killing off of any diplomatic agreement and destruction of the two-state solution– they were free to turn to their next target: taking control of the public debate in Israel on the road to changing its power structure, character and substance."[11]
Russian irredentism, in which a militant imperial state that stretches across both Asia and Europe without regard for current international borders is proposed, has been described as ultranationalism by the U.S. publication the Los Angeles Times, with the aggressive actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin being credited as an evolution of political arguments which were made by multiple figures in the past. Examples include Nikolai Berdyaev, Aleksandr Dugin (the author of 1997's The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia), Lev Gumilyov, and Ivan Ilyin. The newspaper highlighted the justifications which were given in support of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, quoting Putin's declaration that he must militarily combat an "empire of lies" which was created by the U.S. in order to justify its desire to suffocate Russia.[12]
In a 2021 story, the business-centered publication Bloomberg News stated that the rise of ultranationalist viewpoints in China, particularly in terms of those who advocate extremism on social media, presents a direct challenge to the current government of the nation, with General Secretary Xi Jinping facing opposition to his attempts to set forth climate change economic reforms in relation to greenhouse gases. Chinese political activists have asserted, according to the publication, a conspiracy theory that said that the reforms represent some kind of capitulation to foreign interests at the expense of China's citizens. Environmentalist policies have come into being in a complex fashion inside China, facing complicated opinions among many.[13]
The following political parties have been characterised as ultranationalist.
The following political parties have been described as having ultranationalist factions.
The following political parties historically had ultranationalist tendencies or factions.
The action film Air Force One features a terrorist mastermind named Egor Korshunov, played by actor Gary Oldman, who kidnaps a set of hostages including the U.S. President by hijacking the leader's plane. Korshunov seeks revenge due to the arrest of Kazakh dictator Ivan Radek, played by actor Jürgen Prochnow, and the militant became an ultranationalist radical after having formerly served as a Soviet soldier. In February 2022, the U.S. armed forces related website Military.com published a story labeling the character as one of the best "Russian Movie Villains" in American cinematic history.[6] As well, writer Todd McCarthy of Variety lauded the nature of Oldman's "fanatical" character, McCarthy stating that "in his second malevolent lead of the summer, after The Fifth Element, [he] registers strongly as a veteran of the Afghan campaign pushed to desperate lengths to newly ennoble his country."[201]
The Israeli movie Incitement portrayals a fictionalized account of ultranationalist activist and murderer Yigal Amir. The production details his personal life prior to his assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Film critic Nell Minow stated that the killer, played by actor Yehuda Nahari, projects a superficial charm and skill at persuasion while at the same time failing to generate audience sympathy due to his true nature still coming out. Amir seeing himself in a callous, "instrumentalist" way as a living weapon up to and including Rabin's assassination feeds into, in Minow's opinion, the movie's "chillingly" thriller-type quality.[7] Writer Carla Hay of CultureMixOnline.com also found Nahari's performance to be a compelling portrayal of a sociopath in film, with much left to audience interpretations.[202]
The video game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare depicted a civil war in Russia between the government and ultranationalists, while its sequels, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, were set in the aftermath of an ultranationalist coup in Russia and a subsequent war with the United States.[203][204]