What do nationalists want?

Maybe it is because they are new, but the new nationalists’ ambitions are more inscrutable. We know they want to restrict immigration and preserve the nation-state. We know they want to restore sovereignty in the name of democratic legitimacy. But it’s often confusing what much of this means in practice. When Stephen Bannon said that the U.S. withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks was “one of the most pivotal moments in modern American history,” it was hard to make sense of exactly what he meant.

This lack of a forward-driving vision is characteristic even of some of the attempts of intellectuals to synthesize the new nationalist movement. The very promising debut of American Affairs contains some of the sharpest criticism of the post-1989 Western governing ideology around. But this pro-Trump journal is so far very short on prescriptions.

Is the new nationalism for cultivating national particularity? Does it believe that strong independent nation-states make us more peaceful? Is it for preserving the 20th century form of secularism and feminism from encroachment by radical Islam? France’s Marine Le Pen in France and The Netherlands’ Geert Wilders would say yes.

Or is the new nationalism for restoring a Christian identity and ethos to the West? Marine’s niece, Marion Le Pen, and Polish nationalists in the Law and Justice party might say yes. Bannon, meanwhile, has said versions of all of these things to different audiences at different times.