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Juan,

Interesting read! I wonder how much the turn toward nationalism in the midst of the pandemic is lock-step with a turn toward individualism. In the first few months of the pandemic, we saw people panic buying and stockpiling toilet paper. Many people refuse to wear masks. People are also lying to get the vaccine sooner (https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/some-people-are-lying-…).

It strikes me that the nationalism that countries are going through now is not national solidarity in the face of a crisis. If that were the case, than we probably wouldn't be seeing protests against lockdowns across the world (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/2/mapping-coronavirus-anti-lockdo…).

Maybe seeking to understand vaccine nationalism and accusatory bouts between the US and China as extensions of the same selfish individualism growing on the personal level would be a helpful lens of analysis. For one, it is individuals who are guiding national policy. Also, if some factor of selfishness is being fanned by the pandemic, we would see the same results on the individual level--a rise in individualism--and the collective level--a rise in nationalism. Plus, while it may be self-contradictory, individuals are more than capable of being nationalistic and individualistic depending on the context. For example, it's easy to conceive the same person defending their country from an outsider's insults, then insulting the same government to their friends.

Often, I think, nationalism does not exist on the opposite end of the spectrum from individualism.

--Joe

Thank you for your response, Joe!