The hooligan spirit is being tapped as violent extremism rises

There are many reasons why even the oldest democracies, such as the US and Britain, are increasingly riven by tribal hatreds. But when political leaders deliberately exploit these rifts and whip up hostile emotions even further, they do immense harm to the institutions that guarantee people’s freedom and safety, writes Ian Buruma

The late Alan Clark, a British politician of the Margaret Thatcher era, chiefly known for his womanising and his hard-right views, once lamented to me the decline of the British fighting spirit that built empires and won wars. Half in jest, I suggested that this aggressive disposition was still there among British soccer hooligans who ransack stadiums and foreign towns. He replied with a dreamy look in his eyes that this was indeed something that “might be usefully tapped”.