Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict

Abstract

Ever since the start of the age of nationalism at the end of the eighteenth century, there have been tensions between the concepts of the state and the nation. Where the political borders of the state and the cultural boundaries of the nation do not coincide, as is the case with the vast majority of so-called nation-states, friction develops between the principles of territorial integrity and national self-determination. For two hundred years these competing claims have introduced a basic fault line into world politics and there is every indication that the consequences of this tension will continue to bedevil the international community.