I think it's not beyond human capacity to imagine that you could be both Italian and European. I don't see that they need to harm our sense of pride in our nations and who we are. Some people have given too much weight to the UN or they have been naive about what they think it can achieve.
Journalist and author Anne Applebaum talks about her book, Twilight of Democracy, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Applebaum discusses the rise of populist and nationalist movements in Eastern Europe as well as in the West, and the appeal of these movements even when they begin to erode or destroy democracy.