ABSTRACT
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 we have seen unparalleled interest in nations and nationalism. These twin concepts have generated a broad range of scholarly opinion, both on what precisely they mean and what has made the nation so compelling as a category of identity. In recent years, with the prospect of a united Europe on the horizon, a number of scholars and political commentators in the west have been more eager than ever to pronounce the end of the era of nations. To paraphrase Mark Twain, however, events in post-Cold War Europe and elsewhere have shown us that rumors of the nation’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
