|
|
Op-Ed
Editorial: United They Fall
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Soundtruck
A curious event took place last week. Dozens of European and Japanese far-right leaders gathered in Tokyo to discuss their common interests, topped by an August 14th homage at Yasukuni Shrine.
The best-known European delegates were Jean-Marie Le Pen and Bruno Gollnisch of France's National Front, and Adam Walker of the British National Party.
The gathering was organized by Mitsuhiro Kimura, the president of Issuikai, the leading "new right" group that opposes the US-Japan alliance.
Kimura has long advocated the international cooperation of rightist groups, and this event, formally called "The Future of Nationalist Movements," appears to have been something in the character of a dream realized for him.
Adam Walker explained, "We will come under the umbrella of international nationalism."
But what exactly is "international nationalism"?
Many commentators have noted the oddity of, for example, British nationalists like Walker describing the fallen Japanese soldiers of World War II as "heroes that have died for their country." Many of those Japanese heroes, of course, died fighting the British heroes honored by the British National Party.
But should, perhaps, Walker, Le Pen, and Gollnisch in fact be praised for moving beyond the politics of the past and, in their own way, for looking to the future?
They claim to see many common interests in building national pride within their respective nations, combating globalization, and learning from each others' experiences.
In this endeavor they may be, from their point of view, correct intellectually, but they are also wrong politically.
While it is factually the case that far-right nationalist groups in different nations do have a lot in common, it is nevertheless poisonous to their own interests to admit it openly.
The appeal of the far right is essentially emotional: it is aimed at the gut rather than the mind. It plays upon the sense that one's own people and culture are unique and incomparable. Ultimately, far-right nationalism depends on feelings of the superiority of one's own community.
Put another way, far-right nationalism does not permit any true recognition of the Other. One's own heroes will always be something entirely different than the "heroes" of another nation, even if one might hold a sneaking admiration for them every now and then.
As a result, little can ultimately be expected to come out of the kind of "international nationalism" that was witnessed this week in Tokyo. Although some nationalist leaders may be intelligent enough to perceive that they share common dilemmas with overseas nationalist parties, they will be necessarily be unable to explain such cooperation to their own foot-soldiers.
To recognize their international counterparts as true equals would snuff out the emotional candle from which all of their nationalist influence derives.
PanOrient News
© PanOrient News All Rights Reserved.
|
|
