Ratko Mladic on trial: can Nationalism be a force for good?

Nationalism is usually seen as being a bad thing and that side of the coin is currently on show in the trial of Ratko Mladic in which the case for the prosocution has just opened at the Hague. Mladic is accused of eleven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Bosnian war of 1992-95. This conflict showed the effect national identities can have creating and justifying conflict between different ethnicities and the 'ethnic cleansing' with which the conflict is so grimly associated. Nationalism has played a part in the start of most of the horrific wars of the 20th century: World War I started by assassination by a nationalist, World War II through Hitlers belief in the superiority of the Aryan nation, numerous wars in the middle east through the creation of an Israeli nation. Despite all this history can nationalism have a good side and become a force for inclusion and cooperation rather than exclusion and conflict?

Debatabase debate: This House believes that nationalism can be a force for good.

http://dobbs.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/12/02/inside_the_mind_of_ratko...

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2008/02/19/is_nationalism_good_for...