New nationalism refers to a resurgence of nationalist politics that began gathering force in the 1990s and accelerated sharply after 2008, distinguished from earlier nationalist movements by its open prioritization of in-group advantage over broader ideals of freedom or equality. Where classical nationalist movements typically fought to establish new nations or secure political rights for recognized peoples, the current wave operates within established democracies and frames the nation as under siege from globalization, immigration, and cultural change. The phenomenon has proved more complex than a single-cause explanation can capture, which is part of why it has surprised so many analysts and resisted easy prediction.
What Makes It “New”
Nationalist movements are not new, but the version that has reshaped politics across Europe, North America, South Asia, and beyond since the early 2000s differs from its predecessors in several ways. Traditional nationalist movements generally wrapped their appeals in universal principles: freedom, equality, justice, and the pursuit of self-determination. The new wave dispenses with much of that framing. Movements under slogans like “America First” or “Hindu First” put national or ethnic self-interest front and center, treating this not as a regrettable necessity but as a moral good in itself.1PubMed Central. The origins, characteristics and trends of neo-nationalism in the 21st century
There is also a structural difference. Earlier waves of nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe, for instance, fought either to establish the concept of a nation where one was not yet widely recognized or to win full independence for peoples whose nationhood was already accepted.2Nations and Nationalism. Nationalism and National Movements: Comparing the Past and the Present of Central and Eastern Europe The new nationalism operates in a different context entirely: it emerges within long-established democratic states, often among populations that already hold political power. The “enemy” is not a colonial overlord or a rival empire but a combination of domestic elites, international institutions, and immigrant communities perceived as threatening the cultural or economic standing of the native majority.
Economic Roots
The strongest evidence for what fuels new nationalism points to a cascade of economic shocks that governments failed to cushion. Between the early 1990s and 2016, economic nationalist and radical-right parties surged across Western Europe. Research tracing that rise identifies globalization, technological disruption, the 2008-2009 financial crisis, and the 2011-2013 sovereign debt crisis as key triggers. The critical factor, though, was not the shocks themselves but the failure to address their distributional consequences: the gains went to some people, the costs fell on others, and political systems did not compensate the losers.3Journal of Economic Perspectives. The Surge of Economic Nationalism in Western Europe
This pattern matters because it explains why nationalism can flare even when aggregate economic indicators look healthy. A country’s GDP can grow while entire regions hollow out. Factory closures in one area are not offset by tech booms somewhere else, at least not for the people who lost their jobs. When mainstream parties treat these outcomes as inevitable side effects of progress, voters who feel abandoned become receptive to leaders who promise to put the nation’s workers first.
Cultural Backlash, Economic Grievance, or Both
A lively academic debate has developed over whether new nationalism is fundamentally an economic phenomenon or a cultural one. An emerging consensus treats it as primarily a “cultural backlash,” driven by people who feel left behind by shifts in social values around immigration, gender equality, multiculturalism, and secularism. But that framing has been challenged. Researchers have contested the idea that new nationalism is a single, linear phenomenon best understood through cultural grievances alone, arguing that treating it as a coherent “backlash” oversimplifies what is actually a varied set of movements with different national contexts and motivations.4Nations and Nationalism. What is new and what is nationalist about Europe’s new nationalism? Explaining the rise of the far right in Europe
In practice, economics and culture are hard to separate. A factory worker who lost a job to offshoring may resent the immigrant family that moved into the neighborhood not because of pure cultural anxiety but because both the job loss and the demographic change feel like symptoms of the same indifferent system. Politicians who successfully tap into new nationalism tend to blend economic and cultural appeals seamlessly, promising both trade protection and cultural preservation. Trying to isolate one cause from the other may miss the point: for many voters, the experience is one of comprehensive dispossession, not neatly sorted into economic and cultural bins.
The Psychology of Collective Narcissism
One of the more illuminating lines of research into why individuals embrace nationalist movements focuses on a trait called collective narcissism: an exaggerated, defensive belief in the greatness of one’s national group, paired with a conviction that the group is not getting the recognition it deserves. This is distinct from ordinary national pride. A person can feel proud of their country without feeling that the world is conspiring to deny that country its rightful status. Collective narcissism tips into grievance and hostility.
Studies have linked this trait to support for nationalist populist parties and policies across multiple countries. It tends to amplify perceptions of threat and push people toward hostile responses to those perceived threats.5Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. Nationalism as collective narcissism In a study of Polish voters, collective narcissism predicted support for the Law and Justice party. Among British participants, a sense of long-term national disadvantage drove greater support for Brexit, with collective narcissism accounting for the connection. And among Americans, feelings of relative group deprivation predicted support for Donald Trump through the same mechanism.6Social Psychological and Personality Science. Populism as Identity Politics
Perhaps most striking, collective narcissism can extend across national borders. In studies of French and American participants, people scoring higher on national narcissism judged Russia’s attack on Ukraine as less immoral and held more favorable views of Vladimir Putin. The link was mediated by perceived belief similarity: national narcissists saw Putin as someone who shared their worldview, even though his actions posed a potential threat to their own countries.7PubMed Central. We’re All the Same: Collective Narcissists’ Cross-National Support for Putin and Russian Military Attacks That finding hints at why authoritarian leaders in different countries often express mutual admiration despite representing rival national interests.
How Digital Media Fuels the Fire
Early internet utopians predicted that digital communication would dissolve national boundaries and foster cosmopolitan identities. That prediction aged poorly. Scholars now increasingly acknowledge that digital technologies have played an active role in the rise of nationalism and right-wing populism, through at least three mechanisms: the architecture of internet domains (which are organized by country), the biases of recommendation algorithms (which reward emotionally charged content), and the formation of distinct national digital ecosystems that filter information along national lines.8Nations and Nationalism. Digital nationalism: Understanding the role of digital media in the rise of ‘new’ nationalism
Social media platforms are particularly effective at turning diffuse anxieties into politically actionable anger. Algorithmic amplification rewards content that provokes strong emotional reactions, and nationalist grievance narratives generate those reactions reliably. A worried comment about job losses in a local area can be algorithmically surfaced alongside inflammatory immigration content and conspiratorial claims about elites, creating a coherent nationalist worldview from scattered anxieties. The result is that people who might have remained politically disengaged a generation ago now encounter nationalist framing constantly in their feeds.
Immigration and Demographic Anxiety
Immigration is the issue where new nationalism becomes most viscerally felt for voters and most politically effective for leaders. Research confirms that globalization shapes not just economic outcomes but also how people perceive immigrants, and that this perception feeds back into support for restrictive immigration policies. The working classes in advanced democracies, described by critics of globalization as among its biggest “losers,” have become the base of right-wing political parties in much of Europe and the United States, with anti-immigrant sentiment serving as a key mobilizing force.9International Journal of Comparative Sociology. Globalization, contextual threat perception, and nativist backlash: A cross-national examination of ethnic nationalism and anti-immigrant prejudice
But the relationship between demographic change and anti-immigrant attitudes is not straightforward. Research in Britain found that white residents of areas experiencing rapid ethnic change were more likely to call for lower immigration and to support far-right parties. However, in areas that already had high levels of ethnic diversity, white opinion was actually less hostile to immigration.10The Political Quarterly. ‘It’s the Demography, Stupid’: Ethnic Change and Opposition to Immigration The anxiety seems to be driven more by the speed of change than by the fact of diversity. Communities adjusting rapidly feel destabilized; communities that have lived with diversity for longer tend to have developed the social infrastructure, from mixed workplaces to integrated schools, that makes coexistence feel normal.
Welfare Chauvinism
One of the most concrete ways new nationalism reshapes policy is through welfare chauvinism: the idea that social benefits should be restricted to “real” nationals and withheld from immigrants. This has become a signature element of radical-right platforms across Europe. Radical-right mobilization and political rhetoric centered on cultural diversity and immigration have a significant positive effect on welfare chauvinist attitudes among the broader public. After the Great Recession and the refugee crisis, the influence of radical-right discourse on these attitudes increased, even as overall levels of welfare chauvinism among Europeans remained fairly stable. Crucially, as radical-right parties gained strength, differences in welfare chauvinist attitudes between people of different political affiliations grew more polarized.11Journal of European Social Policy. Welfare chauvinism in times of crises: The impact of the radical right political discourse
Not all social programs are equally vulnerable to this pressure. Research analyzing radical-right election manifestos in four Western European democracies found that insurance-based programs like pensions and unemployment benefits, where access is tied to contributions, are less likely to attract welfare chauvinist appeals. Universal healthcare and means-tested social assistance, on the other hand, are far more prone to nativist targeting, because their design makes it easier to frame immigrants as “free riders.”12Social Policy & Administration. Welfare Chauvinism in Populist Radical Right Platforms: The Role of Redistributive Justice Principles This has real implications for how welfare states evolve: countries with contribution-based systems may be somewhat insulated from nationalist pressure on social spending, while those with universal systems face a harder political fight to maintain inclusive access.
The Blurring of Civic and Ethnic Nationalism
Political scientists have long distinguished between civic nationalism, which defines belonging through shared institutions and values, and ethnic nationalism, which defines it through ancestry and culture. France and the United States are classic examples of the civic model; Germany and Japan have historically leaned toward the ethnic model. In theory, civic nationalism is the tolerant version and ethnic nationalism the exclusionary one.
In practice, the boundaries between these forms have always been blurrier than the textbook distinction suggests.13Annual Review of Political Science. Not So Civic: Is There a Difference Between Ethnic and Civic Nationalism? Research comparing national feelings and anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe found that a supposed divide between “Western-civic” and “Eastern-ethnic” types of nationalism had limited relevance, with a trend of cross-regional convergence emerging instead.14PubMed. East is West? National feelings and anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe Globalization, migration, and populism have not reduced the importance of nationalism but have made nationalist identities more flexible and contextual. The old civic-ethnic dichotomy is not theoretically irrelevant but needs further development to capture contemporary complexities.15International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research. Civic vs. Ethnic Nationalism: A Comparative Analysis in the 21st Century
This matters because appeals that sound civic on the surface can carry ethnic exclusion underneath. A politician who insists that immigrants must “share our values” may seem to be making a civic argument, but when the definition of “our values” maps onto a specific ethnic or religious heritage, the civic framing is doing ethnic work. New nationalism is particularly adept at this kind of code-switching.
Populism and Nationalism Together
New nationalism rarely appears in pure form. It almost always arrives blended with populism: the claim that a virtuous, ordinary “people” are being betrayed by a corrupt, self-interested elite.16PubMed Central. Populism, Nationalism, and Nationalist Populism The two ideologies reinforce each other. Nationalism supplies the answer to “who are the people?” (the nation, ethnically or culturally defined), while populism supplies the enemy (elites, whether domestic or international, who have sold the people out). Leaders who combine both can attack upward (at elites) and outward (at foreigners) simultaneously, giving voters a comprehensive explanation for their frustrations.
This combination has consequences for foreign policy. Research argues that nationalism has greater destructive effects on the international system when it is fused with populism. Populist nationalist leaders frame gaps in national representation at the international level as betrayals by elites, and then pursue revisionist foreign policies to “correct” those gaps, whether by withdrawing from treaties, undermining multilateral institutions, or asserting territorial claims.17Oxford Academic (International Affairs). Populism, nationalism and revisionist foreign policy The “make the country great again” template is not just a campaign slogan; it is a foreign policy orientation that treats the existing international order as rigged against the nation.
The Protectionism Paradox
Trade protectionism is one of the most visible policy expressions of new nationalism. Leaders promise to bring manufacturing jobs back by raising tariffs and restricting imports. But economic modeling suggests this strategy is self-defeating. A simulation of U.S.-initiated trade protection measures found that they actually reduce American manufacturing employment. The mechanism is counterintuitive but straightforward: while tariffs increase demand for some domestic goods, they also raise consumption prices, pushing demand toward services instead. When trading partners retaliate, the effect worsens, with further decreases in demand for domestically manufactured goods.18Economic Modelling. Trade protectionism and US manufacturing employment
This creates a political feedback loop. Protectionist policies fail to deliver the promised jobs, which deepens the economic grievances that fueled nationalist sentiment in the first place, which makes voters more receptive to further nationalist appeals. Leaders can then blame the failure on insufficient nationalism: the tariffs were not high enough, the trading partners were too aggressive, the domestic elites sabotaged the effort. The structural inability of protectionism to achieve its stated goals does not weaken the movement; it can actually entrench it.
Transnational Nationalist Networks
One of the ironies of new nationalism is that it operates transnationally. Far-right nationalist organizations across countries routinely cooperate, exchange strategies, and support one another, forming what amounts to an international community of people who oppose internationalism. Research on far-right groups in Central and Eastern Europe found that being a nationalist activist often entails transnational cooperation aimed at strengthening one’s national movement and at supporting a broader community of like-minded people across borders.19CORDIS EU research results. Transnational nationalism. Far-Right Nationalist Groups in East Central Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries
This transnational dimension extends to diaspora politics. Undemocratic regimes have learned to mobilize diaspora communities abroad as nationalist support bases. Research on Turkish diaspora organizations in Europe found that diasporic civic space can provide resources for undemocratic regimes to activate previously dormant communities. The mobilization works through several channels: pre-existing nationalist sentiment, the desire to benefit from ties to the home government, feelings of marginalization as immigrants in their host country, and a wish to assert cultural identity against the majority.20Diaspora. Home State Oriented Diaspora Organizations and the Making of Partisan Citizens Abroad After Turkey introduced external voting in 2012, organized mobilization of Turkish citizens in Germany and the UK became a channel for projecting domestic nationalist politics into European host societies.21Politics and Governance. Building party support abroad: Turkish diaspora organisations in Germany and the UK
Climate Policy as a Nationalist Battleground
Environmental policy has become an unexpected front in nationalist politics. Climate change mitigation requires precisely the kind of multilateral cooperation and shared sovereignty that new nationalism opposes. Researchers have identified nationalism as a major obstacle to climate action, second only to explicit obstruction by corporate lobbies and think tanks. The nation-state system, driven by nationalism, structures incentives around national competitiveness rather than collective planetary welfare, making binding international commitments politically costly for leaders who have promised to put their nation first.22Oxford Academic. Green promises, gray realities: nationalism between climate action and obstruction
This plays out in predictable ways. Nationalist leaders frame emissions targets as economic handicaps imposed by international bodies, cast environmental regulations as attacks on traditional industries, and position climate activism as an elite project disconnected from ordinary workers’ needs. Some nationalist parties have attempted to develop their own “green nationalist” platforms, arguing for environmental protection framed as protection of the homeland’s landscape and resources. But these efforts tend to be subordinated to economic nationalism when the two conflict, as they often do.
Gender, Religion, and the Nostalgic Appeal
New nationalism consistently draws on nostalgia for an idealized past in which gender roles were clearly defined, religious identity was unquestioned, and national culture felt homogeneous. Research on the American far right has argued that the appeal of groups like the Proud Boys can be best understood through their anti-feminism, hypermasculinity, outspoken “Western-ness,” and nationalist nostalgia.23New Political Science. Nostalgia, Hypermasculinity, and the American Far Right: What Ever Happened to Being Proud of Your Boy? These elements are not incidental to the movement; they are part of its core offer. For men who feel that economic and cultural changes have undermined their status, militant nationalism provides a framework for reclaiming a sense of purpose and authority.
Religion plays a parallel role. In the United States, Christian nationalism has emerged as a distinct social identity, strongly linked to a broader nationalist worldview.24Oxford Academic. Christian Nationalism as a Social Identity This is not simply a matter of religious people being more conservative. Christian nationalism treats Christianity less as a personal faith and more as a marker of authentic national belonging. You do not need to attend church regularly to identify with it; what matters is the symbolic alignment between Christianity and a particular vision of national identity. Similar dynamics exist in Hindu nationalism in India and Orthodox nationalism in Russia, where religious tradition is pressed into service as a boundary marker distinguishing the authentic nation from outsiders.
Both the gender and religious dimensions illustrate something important about how new nationalism works psychologically. It does not just offer policy positions; it offers an identity narrative. It tells people who they are, who belongs with them, and who is threatening their way of life. That narrative power is part of why the movement has proved so resilient against factual rebuttal. Pointing out that tariffs cost jobs or that immigration boosts long-run growth does not address the underlying identity crisis that makes nationalist appeals resonate. For many supporters, the movement is not primarily about getting the policy details right. It is about restoring a sense of collective dignity and coherence in a world that feels fragmented.