`In this excellent and thought-provoking book. Hutchinson has taken the debate about nations and nationalism a significant step forward. His view of nations as zones of conflict is a useful and appropriate way of approaching this subject, making an important contribution to the field - one that may come to shape the literature' - Paul Hopper, School of Historical and Critical Studies, University of Brighton

What is the relationship between nations and conflict? Is globalization really eroding national sovereignty and cultural unity? This novel and compelling book explores such questions, arguing that it is wrong to assume that nations are culturally uniform. Hutchinson asserts that resting on older diverse ethnic identities, nations adapt from the unpredictable challenges of modernity, and such plurality makes them prone to cultural wars. He redefines nation-state formation as an outcome of unending and reversible processes, stating that even when nationalists win control, the nation state is never hegemonic since it is only one of many actors in the modern world.