''The largest group most people can think of themselves as
belonging to is the nation-state. Here, even in the midst of great
diversity, a certain level of common interest and identity is given: the
land we share, the laws that govern our lives, the police and armed
forces that protect us, our history, our culture. When circumstances
change drastically for the nation-state — a famine, a belligerent
neighbor, a loss of empire, the discovery of huge natural resources —
there is often an intensification of identity, albeit in a process of
change.
Unless of course the state was largely an invented entity
with no strong internal ties. Then change can bring break-up and a
return to older, stronger identities. As it did in Yugoslavia or
Czechoslovakia. As it threatens to do in Great Britain or Spain..''
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