Shlomo Ben-Ami describes the danger of radical ethnic nationalism, which has a quasi-religious appeal to its zealous supporters. In times of anguish, the outside world is seen as a threat to their identity, diversity a Trojan Horse. Foreigners are widely regarded as intruders, and critics no better than traitors. While economic insecurity is the key factor for the “backlash” against globalisation, the longing for traditional values and nostalgia for the past are behind the “resurgence of the old-fashioned politics of blood and belonging.”

The author points out the fear that white people in the US and Europe are grappling with – to become a minority by 2045. The dwindling population poses an existential threat to their survival as a race, and justifies their action as “a disadvantaged group” to defend their rights and heritage. They lobby for tribalism and exert influence in politics, at the expense of other ethnic minorities, who become victims of racial discrimination and violence.

In order to uphold the liberal world order, (white) ethnic nationalism needs to be reined in, before it paves “a path to disaster.” The 20th century had been dominated by two World Wars as well as conflicts among 19th-century European ideologies. Soviet communism, liberal democracy, Nazism and fascism were variations on themes developed by 19th-century European thinkers.

For much of the 20th century, world politics was dominated by a struggle between different versions of Enlightenment ideas. At the turn of the century, the ideas of the Enlightenment (which championed reason above tradition) were in retreat, as fundamentalism, ethnic nationalism, the self-assertion of non-Western cultures and the failings of the West had diminished the influence of Enlightenment ideologies.

On the whole the fraying social fabric in the West and the plummeting human interactions have impoverished lives and communities. And people have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbours, and their democratic structures. No doubt changes in work, family structure, age, urban life, information technology, women’s roles and other factors have contributed to this decline. Social media are replacing real life contacts, rendering people vulnerable to brainwashing and indoctrination.

Western leaders have to “devise a new way to balance liberal democratic values and people’s craving for a sense of belonging.” It is important to provide the forlorn souls with a sense of purpose and hope. They must feel the moral validation that they are needed and the comfort that they are not alone. America had civicly reinvented itself before, some 100 years ago at the turn of the last century. And America can civicly reinvent itself again.

It remains to be seen whether Western Europe can reinvent itself. In the least it must retain its secular nature and Northern Europe its status as moral superpower. Ethnic nationalism is not a better answer to globalisation and supranationalism. Modern nation-states were shaped along civic, not ethnic, lines, and the nation was defined as a community of citizens regardless of race, gender, religion and social standing.