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At a commemorative ceremony held on November 11 in Paris by the First World War, French President Emmanuel Macron seemed to respond directly to the anxiety recently raised by President Trump. proclaim himself a nationalist. In his speech at the remembrance ceremony, Macron clearly expressed distinction between nationalism and patriotism, asserting that when nationalism, the "exact opposite" of patriotism, normalizes, the moral values of a nation diminish. He continued to say that the soldiers of the First World War fought to reject "the egoism of the nations who are concerned only with their own interests". Trump, in front of the public during the speech of Macron, nodded without showing any sign of reaction while listening to the translation.
The moment that Macron could refer to in his speech refers to a rally in Houston on October 23rd, in which Trump hit the headlines for sidelining all the historical associations with the word "nationalist" and claims himself to be one. At the rally, Trump expressed his understanding that the word was taboo, but then tried to soften the meaning to make it synonymous with patriotism. "I am a nationalist, O.K. I am a nationalist. Nationalist! Use this word! Use this word!
The idea that Trump might be aware of examples such as Japan and Italy in which nationalism went very badly but still chooses to be proud of this title would not be very surprising; he became well known for his "America First" slogan when it comes to describing his position on foreign policy relations, which has already alienated several key allies of the United States. Trump continually driven that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is closed under the false pretense that the United States pays almost all costs (the United States pays about one-fifth of NATO direct funding), contributing tensions with G7 members, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Another popular feature Nationalism is also to qualify as an enemy everything that falls outside the unifying ideas common to the people and the state. Using this framework, the press has been repeatedly demonized by Trump, who has actively mobilized her base to condemn her as "the enemy of the people", ignoring the fact that the press constitutional right report freely on government business. Despite Trump's own definition of nationalism as a means of unification and patriotism, he based on exclusion, division and may include isolation.
However, Trump does not seem to know the best way to handle the alleged criticism. So he reacted predictably to Macron's comments: he went to Twitter to take shots Macron's approval rates and the higher unemployment rate of France compared to the United States. He then mentioned in the same tweet that there was no country more nationalistic than France, "and rightly so!" . Overall, these tweets speak essentially of the typical way that Trump reacts in times when he feels attacked: blame, point and introduce irrelevant tangents.
Macron made his attempts to be more open to Trump, but things changed as Trump's presidency progressed and took steps to withdraw France fully subscribes to several notable international treaties, such as the Paris climate agreement, the Iran nuclear deal and an American refugee program. Moreover, as Trump seems to think that France is the most nationalist country, he may have a different impression of the connotation with the word other than his very troubling and problematic past. However, it is also interesting to note that the US government has invented term used in the past to describe personalities or international groups that pose a threat to our country.
What Trump could refer to France's description is civic nationalism, a phrase explained by Jack Snyder, professor of international relations at Columbia University. book "From voting to violence: democratization and nationalist conflict." Civic nationalism is characterized by adaptable elite interests and strong political institutions, and is considered the most inclusive and ideal form of nationalism. However, despite this possible label, the word itself still has universally strong links with the memories of imperialism and segregation. That is why Macron remains firmly in his speech by deciphering France's ideas as those of patriotism, and rightly so.
In any case, France prides itself on unifying ideas, its popular slogan highlighting "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity". However, it is very obvious that the so-called French nationalism is not the type of nationalism that Trump tries to imitate by his isolationist methods in multilateral relations and his eagerness to oppose parties for political gains. The interaction between Macron and Trump has recently given rise to another example of Trump's needlessly defensive statements against a so-called American ally. Macron was the target of this series of criticisms for simply trying to make it clear that accepting nationalism could restore the horrors of political violence, long mingled with nationalist ideas.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing a rise of political figures such as Trump and Marine Le Pen, who are trying to normalize or redefine the meaning of what nationalism represents, as well as the types of people (white supremacists) encouraged by Trump's recent attempt to try to link patriotism to nationalism. Right now, it's unclear whether Trump will continue to project his support to try to reintroduce nationalism into society, but as Macron recalls, it's important to ensure that the West is never again victim of the dangers of what the ideology could bring.
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