National conservatism

National conservatism is a movement that argues that conservative politics should be organized around the nation, understood as a community with a shared history, language and culture. Its supporters say the nation-state is the best framework for self-government and that it should be strengthened against both supranational bodies and unfettered globalization.

Its advocates, associated with the National Conservatism Conference started in 2019 and writers such as Yoram Hazony, whose book The Virtue of Nationalism (2018) is a touchstone, typically favor reduced immigration, tariffs and industrial policy to protect domestic industry, policies to support families and marriage, a role for religion in public life and skepticism of foreign interventions and international institutions. Many are willing to use government power for these aims, which separates them from free-market adherents of fusionism.

The movement overlaps with populism and paleoconservatism and with some Trump-era policy priorities, and is sometimes linked to postliberalism. Critics from the free-market right argue that it embraces big government and economic interventionism, while critics on the left say it risks exclusion and illiberalism. Supporters respond that nationalism is compatible with liberal democracy and that its critics misunderstand its aims.