Patriotism and nationalism are discussed at the third Socrates cafe in Zenica on November 6th, 2019. The facilitator was Bernard Harbaš, Doctor of Philosophy. Participants disagreed about the rationality of these terms. Some of them find it irrational to be a patriot and identify only with inhabitants of the planet Earth, and they think that other identities are socially conditioned and imposed. For others, patriotism is loyalty to the homeland and is a universal category. In addition, there were those who have stayed on the question of who can standardize and define what patriotism is.

What they all agreed on was defining what patriotism is not – the abuse of public office and corruption. It has also been questioned whether unconditional love for the state is possible, even when it violates human rights, and how to reach a minimum value system that will link different ethnicities in multiethnic states.