THE RIGHT'S FEAR OF TRANSNATIONALISM WAS ALWAYS HYSTERICAL:

As the world became more economically integrated at the end of the twentieth century many commentators and academics mistakenly concluded that nation-states and nationalism were becoming a thing of the past. Even those who resisted this argument often accepted the underlying assumption that where nation-states were stronger markets were weaker - and vice versa. This great illusion continues to cloud left wing judgements on the causes and solutions to the world's problems. Far from representing a challenge to neoliberal capitalism, nationalism remains the unstated assumption of all governments' economic thinking: 'how do we make "our" economy more successful, how do we maximise "our" returns at the expense of competitors?'

It is a collectively held set of convictions that has plagued the Eurozone and puts the entire future of the EU as a project of 'ever closer union' in doubt. For the radical left, whose development and popularity is inevitably unevenly spread across Europe, there are no easy catchall solutions in this context. As the Eurozone has failed to reform, Syriza has been left with no choice but to leave or become a de facto debt colony of Germany - with the former, however hazardous, clearly preferable to the latter.

Nonetheless, both Syriza and Podemos have been right to reject the idea that neoliberalism could be fully overcome by retreating into national borders and to adopt the more radical stance of fighting for the social and democratic transformation of Europe. In Britain, the campaign for an exit from the EU will be dominated by anti-immigrant, nationalist sentiment, and this will also be reflected in the inevitable outcome of a no vote: a country even more hostile to migrants, but just as open to capital as before. Indeed, with nationalism and neoliberalism so closely bound together it is no surprise that British supporters of exit are nearly all hard line Thatcherites who see it as a route to even greater free market liberalisation.

If the EU has any hope of being transformed and the collapse into petty nationalism averted, then it will not only have to radically democratise its functioning, but also be seen as a vehicle for prosperity and opportunity for the working classes of Europe. Not just a source of their pauperisation.

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