Nationalism had always been part of the conservatism’s appeal, although contemporary Republicans lost touch with it under the influence of tendencies that became more important in recent decades: libertarianism, humanitarian universalism and the cosmopolitanism of a globe-trotting business elite.

For the left, nationalism has become simply a swear word—a crimped, small-minded perspective inevitably tinged with racism. It associates nationalism with the rise of fascism in Europe in the 20th century, and considers any expression of it as borderline dangerous.

If nationalism were tantamount to fascism, though, England and America—the countries that forged modern nationalism, as we know it—would have succumbed to jack-booted thugs a few centuries ago.