What can we make of a world in which the President of the USA can call migrants animals one day and be welcomed to the UK the next? And what can we learn from the World Cup about the future of nationalism?

The World Cup proved to be much more of a celebration that many had forecast. It went very well, of which Russia should be proud. Fans from every corner of the globe felt themselves welcome. Contrary to some of the early jeremiads, some wayward chanting aside, there was little or no thuggery.

The English made a welcome return to the high table after a very long time, albeit ultimately unsuccessfully. Given the nature of these fraught and vicious times the overall absence of rancour and nastiness was remarkable. So too was the fundamentally joyous expression of national identities on show, even when games were lost. Also noteworthy was the extent to which many of the European teams embodied their complex populations.

It is not yet clear how this can be squared with the current upsurge in bilious right-wing nationalism especially in Central Europe, the very essence of which is xenophobia and exclusion with the rhetoric and terminology chillingly recalling the 1930s.

Joyful celebration and hate are not easily reconciled. Authoritarian regimes of every stripe routinely attack music and the arts. Watchers rightly recoiled from Donald Trump's inaugural affress for the unrelenting darkness of its vision and its portrayal of a USA unrecognisable to people all over the world. But say it often enough and it infiltrates the discourse.

In a White House meeting on May 16, with California politicians opposed to 'sanctuary city' policies, Trump said of undocumented migrants: "We have people coming into the country or trying to come in, we're stopping a lot of them, but we're taking people out of the country. You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals."

FEELING OF COLLECTIVE LOSS

This outrageous dehumanisation echoes the comments of the new Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has called for a cleansing of Italy, of Roma, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. He's not alone in Europe. Authoritarian and fascist regimes are in, or sharing, power in at least five EU Member States.

Like Trump, they both promulgate and feed on a kind of brute hostility to The Other, the stranger, the foreigner, that is rooted in paranoia and insecurity. Think of The Citizen's questioning of Bloom in Ulysees.

Last week Ivan Krastev, chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and permanent fellow at the IWM Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna wrote an opinion piece in the Guardian headlined 'Central Europe is a lesson to liberals: don't be anti-nationalist'.

In this he noted studies that show that "nationalistic attitudes, particularly anti-migration sentiment, haven't changed much in the past 20 years. People have always been uncomfortable with the idea of foreigners settling in their country." So, he continues, "the question isn't so much about where nationalism has come from but where it's been hiding all these years. What is there about ethno-nationalism now that rallies voters, but hasn't done so before?"

He speculates that the wars that broke out as Yugoslavia broke up may hold part of the answer, that the nationalism of figures like Slobodon Milosevich was so appalling that liberals, who had hitherto allied with nationalist forces in the post-Soviet era, became increasingly anti-nationalist. He may be right. Indeed, this echoes similar effects in this country in the 1980s and 1990s.

He argues that "in the 19th century, and again in the 1970s and 80s, liberals and nationalists were able to shape a common platform - one that was inclusive, rooted in a culture of individuals rights, and centred around a sense of national pride." But now, nationalism in Central Europe has "been narrowed down to ethnicism" - which is, of course, a very different thing. It's not really about immigration, since few migrants settle in their countries. It's much more to do with emigration which creates "a feeling of collective loss in those left behind."

CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE

We in Ireland know this only two well. But in this country, recent debates have seen the link between nationalism and progressive (or liberal) thinking survive, even grow stronger. There are still many issues to be decided, but on the whole this is now an immeasurably more open and civilised country in which to live.

Which brings us back to the World Cup, which which allowed people of participating countries into that inclusive common platform. We didn't make it. But life goes on. That said, we have to salute the country that most clearly mirrors us, Croatia. It's no island and the Adriatic is a lot warmer than the Atlantic, but there are many parallels.

The population is just 4.3 million. It has a large Roman Catholic population which is what distinguishes it from most of the former Yugoslav countries. It also has a long history of threat or domination by others, most particularly the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But Croatia is much closer in orientation to Ireland than to Hungary. So, the question arises: what is it that led us and others to a different path from those now lurching towards fascism and all its trappings? It's not pious pronouncements. Look at how the recent referendum was won. Consultation and consensus were central to the evolution of the process. Likewise discourse. The lessons are especially significant in these days of social media manipulation and echo chamber debates. Those lessons are important at many levels, including the European. The EU itself is prone to acting with little meaningful consultation with its citizens and consequently little active engagement. Make no mistake: it represents one of the great achievements of the post-World War II era, and arose from the shock and horror at the appalling outcome of exactly the kind of thing that has gathered momentum in recent times again in parts of Europe. But if the EU is to survive the next seventy years it will have to get closer to the people.

As for us, well, maybe we should look at Croatia to see how to develop the great footballers of the future!

The Hog