Non state nationalism, from secession to federalism: Should Europe panic?

It is quite clear that at the early 21st century the world is witnessing the raise of a wide variety of radical reactions against the rules-based order that seemed triumphant in 1989. While the center of debate for the last years has been the populist reaction against immigration, against distant political elites and against what pundits defined as European "democratic deficit", nowadays the debate is focusing on the question of secession and self-determination.

The referendum in Scotland, the political crisis in Catalonia, growing demands for deeper autonomy in Northern Italy and the permanent (although dormant) threat of a split of Belgium, has triggered sound alarms in Western Europe. Precisely in the age of globalization and multiculturalism there is a raise of sub state nationalism in affluent and wealthy societies. Sometimes this sub-state nationalism may stress its nativist and blood and soil roots ; in others, as exemplified by Catalans or Scottish, the idea of self determination while sometimes impractical is not related to racism. The paradox however, is that all sub state nationalist groups, demanding self- determination and secession, are not anti-Europe. They are Europeanist in heart and mind. The question however, is what type of Europe they long for.