The Nationalist Dilemma

A Global History of Economic Nationalism, 1776-Present

Marvin Suesse

Nationalists think about the economy, Marvin Suesse argues, and this thinking matters once nationalists hold political power. Many nationalists seek to limit global exchange, but others prioritise economic development. The potential conflict between these two goals shapes nationalist policy making. Drawing on historical case studies from thirty countries – from the American Revolution to the rise of China – this book paints a broad panorama of economic nationalism over the past 250 years. It explains why such thinking has become influential, despite the internal contradictions and chequered record of many nationalist policy makers. At the root of economic nationalism’s appeal is its ability to capitalise upon economic inequality, both domestic and international. These inequalities are reinforced by political factors such as empire building, ethnic conflicts, and financial crises. This has given rise to powerful nationalist movements that have decisively shaped the global exchange of goods, people, and capital.

Marvin Suesse is Assistant Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin, specialising in international political economy. He has published on nationalism in the post-Soviet states, regional integration in Eastern Europe, cooperatives in Imperial Germany, and state-building in sub-Saharan Africa.

Advance praise

‘America First. Getting Brexit Done. These slogans illustrate that we live an era of economic nationalism. The Nationalist Dilemma is an insightful, erudite, timely, and lucid account of the global history of this concept from Alexander Hamilton to Donald Trump.’

John Turner, author of Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles

UK publication June 2023

US publication September 2023

434 pages 9781108831383

Hardback £30.00 | $39.99 USD | $45.95 CAD

At a glance

• Presents a global history of nationalist movements and their economic thought over the past 250 years

• Analyses economic nationalism using a new conceptual framework that draws on structural economic, political and social factors, including inequality, wars, financial crises and ethnic disparities

• Allows the reader to understand why economic nationalism arises and how it becomes influential

UK publication August 2023

US publication October 2023

350 Pages

At a glance

• Identifies key Islamic institutions that shaped political patterns in Middle Eastern history, giving scholars and policy makers new perspectives on the region’s political legacies

• Relates traditional Islamic economic, political, and religious institutions, including ones now defunct, to the Middle East’s current political repressiveness, demonstrating that the region lacks a short pathway to a liberal order, but also that major obstacles have already been overcome somewhat

• Focuses attention on weaknesses of civil society and illiberal apostasy and blasphemy rules as major obstacles to the emergence of organized liberal variants of Islam