Religious Nationalism in the New Cold War

Abstract

Thirty years ago I published a book with the title, The New Cold War? Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State. At the time it seemed a startling proposition that religion could play a role in a new kind of anti-secular authoritarian politics. Now, thirty years later, the theme has returned with the potency of right-wing power, anti-immigrant hate and economic isolationism. Religion continues to be part of the equation in the current dichotomy between democracy and authoritarianism, where religion is often a way to connect a powerful state to the masses, as witnessed in Turkey, Hungary, Russia, India, and now the United States. This article will take several themes from my book and apply them to these contemporary examples. I will assess whether religious nationalism has changed and expanded, and whether it has a future.