Earlier this month in this newspaper, Rich Lowry, conservative political commentator and editor of National Review, penned an article defending American nationalism. In his view, American nationalism is not something to be feared but instead embraced. American nationalism, he claims, is more benign, more embracing of individual liberty and more fundamentally respectful of the rule of law than nationalism found elsewhere. It is, in not so many words, exceptional.
In calling for a new embrace of nationalism, Lowry argues that nationalism has gotten an unfair shake. Nationalism, for instance, was important in the slow transition from autocratic to republican forms of government.