ABSTRACT
The ‘invention’ of new states, or the ‘reinvention’ of old ones—expressions much in vogue today—reflect ideas that are difficult to define. The difficulty stems, first and foremost, from the impossibility of pinpointing the precise moment when the process of invention actually takes place, letting new entities emerge on the political scene. It also stems from the impossibility of drawing a line that separates past definitions from more recent approaches to men's relations among themselves and with their social environment.
