Cosmopolitanism

(From Gr. kosmos, world, and polites, a citizen). Ideological current that regards the human being as a citizen of the world. C. emerged during the French Revolution of 1789, in part as a reaction to the formation of the nation State and, subsequently, to the predatory Napoleonic wars. It was, in effect, a position critical of the official chauvinism of the times. In Russia (from 1936-37 until Perestroika), c. was considered an attitude opposed to the interests of the State. The accusation that one was a sympathizer of c. became a pretext for the cruelest kind of political repression and a mask that hid the anti-Semitism of the USSR’s official policy. Defenders of human rights were declared to be cosmopolitans, and the UN charter a subversive document. Humanism has always expressed, and continues to express in N.H., its support for the idea of overcoming barriers and borders of any type between human beings, supporting the idea of a world that is simultaneously one and diverse. C. is opposed to patriotism and nationalism. C. is frequently confused with internationalism, the difference between them being that the former tends to minimize national traditions and values in favor of certain worldwide projects, while c. seeks the road towards their harmony and combination. In large measure, internationalism reflects the interests of the worldwide bourgeoisie; c. in contrast begins by giving priority to the unity of the interests of the oppressed on a world scale, opposing imperialism and the dictates of the superpowers. In today’s conditions, c. must be oriented toward attaining an international consensus for the resolution of global problems: hunger, health care, disarmament, ecology, and demographics.