Pascal Couchepin's reading: «Charles Maurras, le nationaliste intégral» (Charles Maurras, the integral nationalist)»

Each month, we feature a column by one of the personalities who take turns writing for us. Current affairs, history, politics and philosophy: former Federal Councillor Pascal Couchepin's readings.

From Trump to Orban, Salvini and a few others, unabashed nationalism is back. It inspires media-savvy politicians from many of the world's leading countries. Some accents of their ideology are common, others mark a difference. All of them challenge us to answer the fundamental question: what makes a country, a nation?

To simplify matters, we can define two families of thought. For one, every country has an identity, an essence forged by culture and history. Patriotism therefore consists in recognizing this identity, submitting to it and thereby