How nationalism and globalism can coexist

So two weeks ago, I searched
the word "nationalist" on Twitter.

The results were quite colorful,

with expressions like, "Emboldened
Racist Moron," --

(Laughter)

"White Supremacist Idiot;"

"Fascist Sock Puppets;" --

Laughter)

"Orwellian, Hitlerian, Terrifying."

I then searched the word, "globalist,"

and got things like, "Socialist Sell-Outs,"

"Disgusting Corporate Propaganda,"

"Elitist Financial Overlords;"

"Ruthless Cosmopolitan Rats."

(Laughter)

Even by social media standards,

the words are cruel and disgusting.

But they reflect the instensity

of one of the most fundamental
questions of our times.

Nationalism or Globalism?

What is the best path forward?

This question impacts
everything we care about:

our cultural identity,

our prosperity,

our political systems --

everything --

the health of our planet --

everything.

So on the one hand, we have nationalism.

Collins defines it as
a "devotion to one's nation,"

but also, a "doctrine that puts
national interests above

international considerations."

For nationalists, our modern societies
are built on national grounds:

we share a land, a history, a culture
and we defend each other.

In a big and chaotic world,

they see nationalism as the only
sensible way

to maintain social stability.

But alarmed globalists warn us:

self-centered nationalism
can easily turn ugly.

We've seen it with 20th-century facisms:

bloody wars, millions of deaths,
immeasurable destructions.

On the other hand, we have globalism.

The Oxford Living Dictionary defines it
as "the operation or planning

of economic and foreign policy
on a global basis."

For nationalists, globalism
is rapidly deconstructing

what our ancestors took decades to build.

It's like spitting on our soldiers' tombs;

it's eroding our national solidarities

and opening the doors
to foreign invasions.

But gloabalists make the case
that reinforcing our global governance

is the only way to tackle
big, supernational problems

like nuclear proliferation,

the global refugee crisis,

climate change or terrorism

or even the consequences of superhuman AI.

So we are at the crossroads

and we are asked to choose:

nationalism or globalism?

Having lived in four continents,

I've always been
interested in this question.

But it took a whole new level
when I saw this happening:

the biggest surge in nationalist votes
in Western democracies since WWII.

All of a sudden, this isn't
theory anymore.

I mean, these political movements
have built their success with ideas

that could mean, down the road,
losing my French citizenship

because I'm North African,

or not being able to come
back home to the US

because I come from
a Muslim-majority country.

You know, when you live in a democracy,
you like with this idea

hat your government
will always protect you

as long as you abide by the laws.

With the rise of national populism,

despite being the best citizen I can be,

I now have to live with the idea
that my government can hurt me

for reasons I cannot contol.

It's very unsettling,

but it forced my to re-think this question
and try to think deeper,

and the more I thought about it,

the more I started
questioning the question.

Why would we have to choose between
nationalism and globalism --

between loving our country
and caring for the world?

There's no reason for that.

We don't have to choose between
family and country,

or region and religion and country.

You already have multiple identities
and we live with them very well.

Why would we have to choose
between country and world?

What if, instead of accepting
this absurd choice,

we took it on ourselves to fight
this dangerous binary thinking?

So for all the globalists in the audience,

I want to ask.

When I say the word "nationalist,"
what image comes to your mind?

Something like this?

Believe me, I think of that, too.

But I'd like you to remember
that for most people,

nationalism feels more like this.

Or maybe like that.

You know, it's that thing inside you
when you accidentally watch

and obscure Olympic sport on TV --

(Laughter)

wait --

and the mere sight of an unknown athlete
wearing your national colors

gets you all excited.

You heartbeat goes up,

your stress level goes up

and your standing in front of the TV

and screaming with passion
for that athlete to win.

That's nationalism.

It's people happy to be together,

happy to belong to a large
national community.

Why would it be wrong?

You know, gloablists, you may think
of nationalism

as an old, 19th-century idea
that is destined to fail,

but I'm sorry to tell you
that the facts are not on your side.

When the world value survey asked
more than 89,000 people

across 60 countries,

how proud they felt about their country,

88.5 percent said,
"very proud" or "quite proud."

88.5 percent.

Nationalism is not going away
any time soon.

It's a powerful feeling that according
to another study

is a strong predictor
of individual happiness.

It's crazy, but your happiness is more
correlated with national satisfaction

than we think you would expect,

like household income
or your job satisfaction

or your health satisfaction.

So if nationalism makes people happy,

why would anybody take it away from them?

Fellow globalists,

if you are like me,

you may be attached to globalization
for humanistic reasons.

And you may take great joy
in some of its accomplishments since 1945.

After all, major regions of the world
have been exceptionally peaceful.

Extreme poverty rates around
the globe are trending down,

and more than two billion people,

most notably in Asia,

show spectacular improvements
in their standards of living.

But studies also show
that globalization has a dark side

and left on the side of the road,

hundreds of millions of people
on Western middle classes

with anemic income growth
for more than two decades --

possible three decades,

according to some studies.

We cannot ignore
this elephant in our room.

If anything, our collective energy
would be better used

finding ways to fix this aspect
of globalization

instead of, you know, fighting
this polarizing battle

against nationalism.

So now, the nationalists in the audiece,

I have some crusty, non-binary
nuggets for you.

(Laughter)

When I say the word "globalist,"
what comes to your mind?

Out-of-touch, one percent plutocrat?

Or maybe the heartless,
greedy Wall Street-type, right?

Or maybe people like me

with multiple origins living in a big,
cosmopolitan metropolis.

Well, you remember that world
value survey that I mentioned earlier?

It showed another fascinating finding.

71 percent of the world population
agreed with the statement,

"I am a citizen of the world."

Do you know what it means?

Most of us are simultaneously proud
of our country and citizens of the world.

And it gets even better --

the citizens of the world in the survey
show a higher level of national pride

than the ones that rejected that label.

So once and for all,

being a globalist doesn't mean
betraying your country.

It just means that you have
enough social empathy

and you project some of it outside
your national borders.

Now, I know that when I dig into
my own nationalist feelings,

one of my anxieties versus
the globalized world

is national identity.

How are we going to preserve
what makes us special --

what makes us different --

what brings us together?

And as I started thinking about it
I realized something really strange,

which is that a lot of the key ingredients
of our national identities

actually come from outside
our national borders.

Like, think of the letters
that we use every day.

I don't know if you realize,

but the latin script,

the latin alphabet that we use has
its origins from thousands of years ago

near the Nile River.

It all started with a cow just like this
that was captured by a scribe

into an elegant hieroglyph.

That hieroglyph was transcribed
by a Semite in the Sinai

into the letter [Aleph].

Aleph travelled with Phoenicians
and reached the European shores in Greece

where it became Alpha,

the mother of our letter A.

So that's how an Egyptian cow
became our letter A.

(Laughter)

And same thing with the Egyptian
house that became [Bate],

Beta

and B.

And the Egyptian fish that became [Dalet],

Delta

and D.

Our most fundamental texts are full
of Egyptian cows, houses and fish.

(Laughter)

And there are so many other examples,

like take the United Kingdom
and its monarchy.

Queen Elizabeth II --

German ancestry.

THe mottos on the royal coat of arms:

all written in French --

not a single word of English.

Take France and it's iconic Eiffel Tower.

The inspiration?

The United States of America --

and I don't mean Las Vegas,

I mean 19th-century New York.

(Laughter)

This was the tallest building in New York
in the mid-19th centry.

Does it remind you of something?

And you may think of China
as a self-contained civilization,

protected behind its Great Wall.

But this twice.

The Chinese official ideaology:

Marxism, made in Germany.

One of China's biggest religions:

Buddhism,

imported from India.

India's favorite pastime?

Cricket.

I really love this quote
from [Ashish Nandi,]

who said, "Cricket is an Indian game
accidentally discovered by the British."

(Laughter)

So, you know, these are good reminders
that a lot of what we love

in our national traditions

actually come from previous
waves of globalization.

And beyond individual symbols,

there are whole national traditions
that could not have existed

without globalization.

And the example that comes to my mind
is a world-beloved national tradition:

Italian cuisine.

My friends, if you ever have a chance

to go to a super authentic
Italian restaurant

that only serves ancient Roman recipes,

my advice for you is don't go.

(Laughter)

You'd get very, very disappointed.

No spaghetti, no pasta --

that really started in Sicily in the eigth
century when it was under Arabian rule.

No perfect espresso, no creamy cappuccino,

that came from Abyssinia via Yemen
in the 17th century.

And of course no perfect
pizza napolitana:

how would you make it without
the tomatoes of the new world?

No, instead you would be served
probably a lot of porridge,

some vegetable --

mostly cabbage --

some chesese,

and maybe if you're lucky,

the aboslute delicacy of that time:

mmm, perfectly cooked,
fattened door mice.

(Laughter)

Thankfully, it was not a close tradition
preseved by fanatic watch dogs.

No, it was an open process,

nourished by explorers, traders,
street-sellers and innovative home cooks.

And in many ways, globalism is a chance
for our national tradions

to be questioned, regenerated,
reinterpreted,

attract to converts to stay vibrant
and relevant over time.

So just remember this.

Most of us nationalists in the world
are globalists,

and most of us globalists
in the world are nationalist.

A lot of what we like in our
national traditions

come from outside our national borders,

and the reason we've entered
outside our national borders

is to discover these other
national traditions.

So the real question should not be

to choose between nationalism
and gloabalism.

The real questions is,

how can we do both better?

It's a complex question
for a complex world

that calls for creative,
non-binary solutions.

What are you waiting for?

Thank you.

(Applause and cheers)