Climate Change and the Nation State

Critics Review

• Provocative, original and thought-provoking … Lieven argues convincingly that there is no inevitable link between nationalism and climate denialism.

  Financial Times

• Striking … The climate crisis is a test of our character. And Lieven does not like what it reveals. His book offers a blueprint for an epochal social and political transformation.

  New Statesman

• Lieven believes we must start again – or, rather, return to older foundations in the face of this primal threat to our planet’s future. We need, he argues, a new nationalism … We should heed Lieven’s call to action.

  Literary Review

• Lieven maps out a response to the environmental crisis that draws on both the radical social democracy of Bernie Sanders’ Green New Deal and the burgeoning “eco-nationalism” of Europe’s reactionary populists … There’s no denying the prescience of Lieven’s analysis … Lieven offers a sobering account of the climate crisis, how dramatically it is going to reshape human life, and how quickly that transformation is likely to take effect.

  The Herald

• Convincing … Lieven weaves his first-hand knowledge and experience into a compelling narrative … He makes a strong case for urgent action, especially by powerful states.

  Nature

• This is one of those rare books that have something really important to say. Anatol Lieven, one of the most original and independent-minded foreign policy thinkers, is telling his fellow realists that at this moment the world’s great powers are far more threatened by climate change than they are by each other.

  Ivan Krastev, author of The Light That Failed

• Passivity in the face of climate change is the fatalism of our age. Anatol Lieven’s book offers a bracing riposte to those who believe only world government can solve global warming. Lieven makes a brilliant case that the nation state has to be the chief vehicle to confront humanity’s surpassing crisis. Lieven is utterly persuasive about this challenge – above all the importance of our not allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good. If you read one book on global warming, this should be it.

  Edward Luce, author of The Retreat of Western Liberalism

• Thus far, the global response to climate change emphasises talk rather than effective action. Lieven fills this strategic void by insisting that enlightened civic nationalism alone can stem this threat. Only the nation state can constrain corporate capitalism from further harming the environment. Only the nation state can motivate citizens to make the sacrifices needed to curb the mounting damage. This is a bold, original, gutsy, and absolutely essential book.

  Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The Age of Illusions

• This book is a clarion call for a renewed civic nationalism focused on the preservation of the environment and the arresting of climate change as vital aspects of a shared national and international good-one that true patriots of any country ought to place at the front and center of their political agenda. Lieven makes a compelling case for contesting the intolerant and anti-scientific far right’s would-be monopoly on the language, imagery, and emotions of nationalism.

  Aviel Roshwald, Professor of History, Georgetown University

• Climate activists have yet to devise a successful political strategy for dramatically reducing the pace of warming. In his brilliant new book, Lieven argues that ‘civic nationalism,’ combining loyalty to the nation and public sacrifice, is the only strategy with a chance at success. While not everyone may agree with his conclusions, it is impossible to escape the hard logic of his reasoning.

  Michael Klare, author of All Hell Breaking Loose