Tainted Source

The author of this text argues that an ideology is sweeping Europe and the world which threatens democracy and the rule of law. The "post-national ideology", which posits that nation-states are no longer capable of running their own affairs in a modern, interdependent economy, is shown to confuse the constitution of a state with the power of its government, and to ignore the importance of the sense of community essential to democratic debate. Laughland seeks to provide a synthesis of historical and philosophical arguments, and make a powerful appeal in favour of the constitutional foundations of the liberal order. Post-national structures - multinational companies, "region-states" and supranational organizations such as the European Union - are argued to be corrosive of liberal values; the author shows the ideology as a crucial core of Nazi economic and political thinking.