The nation-state as an imagined community–II

In this sense, because it tries to give sometimes very different peoples a common identity, the nation-state is, in Western Europe and its offshoots at least, an imaginary community–Eastern Europe has different circumstances. Yet, it has succeeded in creating nations from what were once only nominal kingdoms. Its fragility, however, is apparent from the various separatist movements that have emerged over the past century to reclaim a certain identity, a claim followed in a milder way by the European Union today. The trend in the EU, in this sense, seems to go back to the older concept of multi-ethnic empire. Let us hope that Europe will not forget her own history so as to root its own identity in firm and solid ground.