Of Patriots and Patriotism

Published in El Heraldo de Mexico
(Mexico) on 25 April 2022
by José Carreño Figueras (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Hannah Bowditch. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
Vladimir Putin is conveying the intention to restore his country’s glory, represented as much by the military power of the Soviet Union as by the aspirations of czarist Russia.

In theory, increasing economic, cultural and social interconnection as a result of globalism will create new conditions and perhaps a more beneficial era for humanity.

In practice, however, it has created a new era of winners and losers, among countries and within societies. You could say that globalism is not what the world thought, or hoped, it would be.

One consequence is the resurgence of resentment, the growing fears and nostalgia for a past that never really existed.

We’ve seen it in the United States with Donald Trump, and we see it with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In their own way, both men are symbols of patriotism, or nationalism, which, in practice, we might consider toxic and which, from the outset, have had authoritarian overtones.

Putin is certainly a patriot, as writer Steven Lee Myers told me during a conversation about his book "The New Tsar," published in Spanish by Editorial Planeta. This conveys his intention to restore the glory of Russia, represented as much by the military power of the Soviet Union as by the aspirations of czarist Russia.

It isn’t necessarily bad, but it implies direct or indirect domination over the decisions of neighboring countries in the name of this new nationalism and their security.

You cannot explain he invasion of Ukraine without this formula. Putin invoked the dangers of a presumed Nazification of Kyiv and the possibility that Ukraine would join NATO.

But NATO has spent years on the Russian Border, in Poland as well as in the Baltic states, and indeed, in Turkey.

Then Putin claimed it was time to rescue Russian minorities by waging a separatist war in two "people's republics" in eastern Ukraine.

It would be difficult to coexist with a neighbor who uses the idea of patriotism to subjugate independence and human rights to size and military capability.

Mexicans faced something similar during the Trump administration. Trump presented himself as an American patriot who, under the banner of "Make America Great Again," exploited the dissatisfaction of a sector of the country by attributing social and economic conditions to globalization.

Threating to close borders, warning about using economic sanctions to exert pressure on their neighboring country, and using and abusing the notion of an “invasion” of migrants were crucial to Trump's claims, and formed an important part of the Republican political doctrine.

You can also find this idea in Joe Biden’s less strident proposal to condition access to America’s market on the percentage of American content goods contain.

Patriotism is a great concept, but should be practiced with caution.


De patriotas y patriotismo

Putin refleja su intención de restaurar las glorias de su país, representada tanto por la potencia militar de la URSS y por las aspiraciones de la Rusia zarista

Para muchos, la creciente interconexión económica, cultural y social significada por el globalismo crearía nuevas condiciones y quizás una época más beneficiosa para la humanidad.

En la práctica, sin embargo, creó una nueva era de ganadores y perdedores, entre países y dentro de sociedades. Puede decirse que el globalismo no es lo que se esperaba, o deseaba que fuera.

Pero una de sus consecuencias es el resurgimiento de resquemores, el fortalecimiento de miedos y nostalgias por un pasado que nunca realmente existió.

Lo hemos visto en Estados Unidos con Donald Trump y lo vemos con el presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin. A su estilo, ambos son ejemplos de un patriotismo, o un nacionalismo, que en la práctica podrían ser considerados como tóxicos y que de entrada tienen visos autoritarios.

Putin ciertamente es un patriota, como me dijo el escritor Steven Lee Myers, durante una conversación a propósito de su libro El nuevo Zar, publicado en español por Editorial Planeta. Pero eso refleja su intención de restaurar las glorias de Rusia, representada tanto por la potencia militar de la Unión Soviética y por las aspiraciones de la Rusia zarista.

No es necesariamente malo, pero implica el dominio directo o indirecto sobre las decisiones de países vecinos, en nombre de ese nuevo nacionalismo y su seguridad.

La invasión de Ucrania no puede ser explicada sin esa formulación. Putin invocó peligros por la presunta nazificación de Kiev y la posibilidad de que se hiciera parte de la Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte.

Pero la OTAN lleva años en las fronteras rusas, lo mismo en Polonia que en los países bálticos y, de hecho, en Turquía.

Luego, el presidente Putin reclamó que era tiempo de rescatar a las minorías rusas que libraban una guerra separatista en dos "repúblicas populares" en el este de Ucrania.

Sería difícil coexistir con un vecino que usa el concepto del patriotismo para subyugar las nociones de independencia y el derecho al tamaño y la capacidad militar.

Los mexicanos enfrentamos algo similar durante el régimen de Trump, que se presenta como un patriota estadounidense y, bajo el lema Hagamos a EU grande otra vez, aprovechó la insatisfacción de una parte de la sociedad de ese país, por factores sociales y económicos atribuidos a la globalización.

Las amenazas de cierre de fronteras, las advertencias sobre el uso de herramientas económicas para ejercer presión sobre el gobierno vecino, el uso y abuso de la idea de una "invasión" de migrantes fueron cruciales de los reclamos de Trump y son parte importante de la doctrina política de los republicanos.

Con todo, la noción se encuentra también en la menos estridente propuesta de Joe Biden para condicionar el acceso al mercado de su país al porcentaje de contenidos estadounidenses.

El patriotismo es un gran concepto, pero debe invocarse con cuidado.
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