ABSTRACT
The resurgence of nationalism in post-communist Eastern Europe and its manifestation in ethnic conflict, tension and civil war received considerable public and academic attention after 1990, not least because of the visibility of the Yugoslav tragedy. Many observers explained this reemergence of nationalism using a ‘deep freeze’ analogy. In brief, this view argued that communism suppressed nationalist tensions, which simmered under an ice cap of political control. The thaw enabled the ancient historic enmities to gush once again to the surface.
