Smart to not practise what you preach

One of the underrated strategic values of nation-statism – the practice of a centralised political unit ruling over a politically sovereign territory – is that its laws, rules and trends apply within its own domain, but have little, no, or even opposite bearing when applied ‘abroad’. Take Norway. It became the first country this week to have more EVs than cars running on any other fuel. Of the 2.8 mn registered cars, 754,303 now run on electric juice alone, while 753,905 run on petrol. Which is great – for Norway. The country also happens to be the fifth-largest exporter of oil and third-largest of natural gas. In fact, almost all the oil and gas it extracts is shipped off to other countries.

The fact that one may sell what one may not want oneself may seem like not practising what you preach. But the magic circle of the ‘nation state’ and ‘national interest’ – in the case of Norway, less polluting vehicles as well as more cash selling oil elsewhere – makes solid logical, moral and economic sense. While a country like India is still largely a consumer nation – of oil, both as fuel for vehicles and bodies via cooking, among many other harmful things – countries like Norway have got it right: keep the good things for ourselves, and sell the bad things that remain popular elsewhere. In other words, have your cake, but don’t eat it too.