R.R. Reno | 'Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West'

From Israel and Palestine to Ukraine and Russia, from China to the various European Union member states, nationalism is surging.The UK Brexit referendum of 2016, followed by Donald Trump’s shock victory in the US presidential election, were milestones in a new populist moment. Nationalism is a defining aspect of the ongoing disruption of transnational elites and centrist consensus.R.R. Reno is highly respected, widely recognized commentator in these historic developments. His important book, Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West, places these phenomena in a historical and philosophical context. Reno is a graceful writer, rendering complex issues accessible and compellingly readable.Reno has an unusual talent: he can provoke as he persuades. He makes you think. Recently he wrote approvingly of “The Lessons of Woodrow Wilson.” Wilson has become a political orphan, disregarded by the contemporary left and right. Reno reminds us that Wilson’s thought on American national solidarity holds lessons for our time.A recent opinion piece by Ross Douthat, “Trump’s Second Term Has Ended the Conservative Era,” posits the possibility that nationalism will endure after the tumult of our moment subsides. Reno scouted this path long before.In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Rusty Reno discusses his book, and shares his highly informed take on the new nationalism in our midst.Publisher’s Summary"Return of the Strong Gods...is a thoughtful contribution to American political debate. It is incisively written and full of modern observations. Mr. Reno explains, better than any book I can remember, the present-day progressive's paranoid fear of fascism and neurotic determination to ferret out racism where none exists." —The Wall Street Journal”This is among the most arresting books I’ve read in the past decade: eloquent and powerful in its genealogy of our culture’s problems, but also a hymn, in the author’s words, to ‘a shared love of self-government and civic honor,’ sustained by political honesty and ennobled by religious faith; in other words, a compelling call to public sanity.” —Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., former Archbishop of PhiladelphiaAfter the staggering slaughter of back-to-back world wars, the West embraced the ideal of the “open society.” The promise: By liberating ourselves from the old attachments to nation, clan, and religion that had fueled centuries of violence, we could build a prosperous world without borders, freed from dogmas and managed by experts.But the populism and nationalism that are upending politics in America and Europe are a sign that after three generations, the postwar consensus is breaking down. With compelling insight, R. R. Reno argues that we are witnessing the return of the “strong gods”—the powerful loyalties that bind men to their homeland and to one another.Reacting to the calamitous first half of the twentieth century, our political, cultural, and financial elites promoted open borders, open markets, and open minds. But this never-ending project of openness has hardened into a set of anti-dogmatic dogmas which destroy the social solidarity rooted in family, faith, and nation. While they worry about the return of fascism, our societies are dissolving.But man will not tolerate social dissolution indefinitely. He longs to be part of a “we”—the fruit of shared loves—which gives his life meaning. The strong gods will return, Reno warns, in one form or another. Our task is to attend to those that, appealing to our reason as well as our hearts, inspire the best of our traditions. Otherwise, we shall invite the darker gods whose return our open society was intended to forestall.About the AuthorR. R. Reno, the editor of First Things, a journal of religion and public life, serves on the board of advisers of the Edmund Burke Foundation, the sponsor of the National Conservatism Conference. After earning his doctorate in religious studies from Yale, he taught theology at Creighton University for twenty years. His books include Genesis: A Theological Commentary, Fighting the Noonday Devil, and Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society. He lives with his wife in New York City.The New Nationalist™ is an independent, non-partisan publication advocating political reform. Your support makes this project possible and is greatly appreciated. Get full access to The New Nationalist™ at jamesstrock.substack.com/subscribe