The World Cup Proves That the Road to Post-nationalism Is Quite Long

The remarkably high viewership of the World Cup games, with hundreds of millions of fans tuning into the matches every day, showed once again that the World Cup is not just a soccer competition but a strong growth engine of national identities as a counter to the idea of national and cultural globalism. Every night for the past few weeks, about four games were broadcasted, and the channels repeatedly captured the fans’ displays of admiration for their country and homeland. Even thunderous silence became an expression of national affinity. For example, the players of the Iranian national team who chose not to sing the Iranian national anthem when it was played as a sign of solidarity with the protesters in their country, sent a powerful political message to spectators around the world. In the World Cup, there are winners and losers. Yet the games have marked one monumental defeat outside the playing field: that of the idealistic and romantic belief in post-nationalism. That is, the concept that we’re now living in a new world order where nationalities no longer matter. The main argument of the romantics is that the new world should be a post-national world, where there is no identity that distinguishes nations, but where people are rather “world citizens” that are connected to each other in universal social networks and a global economy. In their vision, in the post-national world, territories are not important as a component of national identity, and therefore there are no tensions between peoples, tribes, and ethnocultural communities over territories. In such a utopian world there will be no wars and no terrorism, the economy will flourish, and the hole in the ozone will magically disappear. In short, a perfect new world will be born. But the World Cup games came and placed a large mirror in front of them. It reminded all of us that what we’re witnessing isn’t globalism; it’s patriotism. An interesting expression of the strengthening of national patriotism is found in the media coverage of the World Cup events. It’s fascinating to see broadcasters and commentators part ways from their supposed impartial role as journalists and rally around their flag. The World Cup proves that the road to post-nationalism is quite long if it even has a chance. The games challenged the followers of the utopia of pluralism, multiculturalism, and a world without nationalism. This is quite relevant to our region: Some argue that binationalism is possible in the territories of Israel if only the Jews give up their nationality to create a civil state as part of a global post-national order. If there is someone who still thinks so, he or she should be advised to tune into the World Cup broadcasts. –Shlomo Tsadok (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)