The other is globalism, or the dropping of national boundaries in the face of the internationalization of commerce, labor, technology, and culture. Peoples motivated by nationalism are found everywhere in the world. Most of the major interstate and civil conflicts since World War II have had nationalism as a precipitating factor. Nationalism is behind the breakup of the Soviet Union, and hence the end of the cold war, in turn bringing on the end of the old global system.
Nationalism is responsible for untold human suffering.
Virtually all scholars of nationalism have come up with their own definitions of nation and nationalism. The reason is that the phenomenon of nationalism in the late 20th century is a very complex one. Nationalism has many facets, many causes, many consequences. Yet, we can discern some patterns in our study of nationalistically motivated groups, and we can find commonalities in the many definitions and explanations provided by scholars. We will pay particular attention to ethnonationalism, since it is the most widespread type of nationalist sentiment at the present historical moment.