Country flags are waving, national anthems are sung and patriotism is running especially high since the Aug. 5 Opening Ceremony kicked off the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Some of the loudest cheers can be expected from Israelis, who seem to have the strongest sense of national identity — or the weakest conviction that they are global citizens, anyway. In the Best Countries survey of more than 16,000 people from 37 countries, respondents from Israel disagreed most strongly with the statement, “I feel more like a citizen of the world than my country.”
An overwhelming 80 percent of respondents from Israel said they disagreed with the statement, half of whom indicated that they “disagree strongly,” instead of moderately or slightly. In Kenya, the second most nationalistic country according to the survey, a much smaller portion of respondents — 27 percent — indicated that they “disagree strongly” with the statement.
National identity and pride take time to develop, according to a June report published in the political science journal Research & Politics.
It “is likely greater in older than in younger nations because older nations have, all else equal, had more time to accumulate experiences and events (related to, for example, literary, scientific and art work, as well as political events and wars) that can be memorialized as national achievements,” write the authors, a concept supported by outcomes from their own survey in Europe.
But as national pride claims its stake within country borders over the years, so, too, does a sense of interconnectedness in the modern world, taking root in the literal cables and trade routes that cross between borders.
For the first time in 15 years, public opinion researchers at GlobeScan found that a global majority “see themselves more as global citizens than citizens of their country” in 2016.
Patriotism is also lower in younger generations, according to a YouGov survey in Britain, perhaps related to their greater exposure to globalization. In one of the purest recent expressions of nationalism, citizens of the the U.K. voted in June to leave the European Union, a decision driven by older voters. Younger citizens voted overwhelmingly to remain a part of the economic and political partnership, but had lower rates of voter turnout.
Globalization is not without its troubles, though. Since the global financial crisis in 2009, feelings of global citizenship have hit all-time lows in established economies like Germany and other member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to GlobeScan.
In the Best Countries survey, respondents from centuries-old nations like Sweden, Spain and Hungary are rather evenly split when asked to consider the statement, “I feel more like a citizen of the world than of my country.” In the U.S., where presidential candidate Donald Trump has made nationalistic themes cornerstones of his campaign , nearly two-thirds of survey respondents disagreed with the statement.
[READ: In Trump, the World Sees ‘The Ugly American.’]
The financial crisis seems to have had the opposite effect on developing economies like Nigeria and Peru, or non-OECD nations, where the sentiment of global citizenship continues to grow, according to GlobeScan.
India, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey had the greatest portion of self-identified global citizens, with at least 65 percent of respondents indicating that they agree with the statement.
Here are the top 10 countries that both agree and disagree with the statement, “I feel more like a citizen of the world than of my country.”
| Country | Agree | Agree Strongly | Best Countries Rank |
| India | 73.5% | 19.2% | 22 |
| UAE | 67.1% | 17.9% | N/A |
| Turkey | 64.9% | 21.5% | 30 |
| Vietnam | 62.3% | 13.8% | 32 |
| Italy | 62.2% | 12.6% | 13 |
| Thailand | 61.9% | 11.1% | 21 |
| Egypt | 59.3% | 22.1% | 39 |
| China | 59.2% | 9.2% | 17 |
| Saudi Arabia | 58.8% | 24.1% | 29 |
| Mexico | 58.7% | 17.6% | 27 |
| Country | Disagree | Disagree Strongly | Best Countries Rank |
| Israel | 79.2% | 43.7% | 25 |
| Japan | 67.7% | 11.8% | 7 |
| New Zealand | 63.9% | 19.1% | 11 |
| Canada | 63.5% | 21.6% | 2 |
| United States | 62.8% | 26.0% | 4 |
| Finland | 61.2% | 21.4% | N/A |
| Poland | 58.7% | 23.8% | N/A |
| Australia | 56.8% | 19.8% | 6 |
| United Kingdom | 56.6% | 19.9% | 3 |
| Denmark | 55.7% | 20.5% | 10 |
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Can Globalization Overcome Nationalism? originally appeared on usnews.com
