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Hungary and the endurance Viktor Orbán | Nationalism Reimagined

A special series from World Review on the challenges of Nationalism

Politicians all over the world use nationalism. They use it to win elections, and to stoke fear, and to gain and hold on to power. This form of nationalism is exclusive, based on ethnicity or race or religion. But is there another way? 

Emily Tamkin presents Nationalism Reimagined, a new series from the World Review podcast that will examine nationalism in its various guises in countries across the globe and look for an alternative approach. Can these divisive politics be countered by building a civic, liberal nationalism?

In this second episode we look at nationalism in Hungary. First Zsuzsanna Szelényi, a former Fidesz member and author of Tainted Democracy: Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary, talks about Orbán’s long history of using nationalism to trip up political opponents. Then Gergely Romsics, a senior research fellow at the research centre for the humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, who teaches at the department of social science at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, takes a look at the precedents for civic nationalism in Hungarian history and why it is struggling now.

Read more:

Hungary and the US right deepen their illiberal mutual admiration

Why it’s not surprising that Viktor Orbán spoke at CPAC

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