They may involve transnational identities, for example Islam. They may turn on national identities. Or they may exploit subnational identities, such as particular religious or linguistic groups. The globalized economy has undermined states' sovereignty and independence, and so undermined the power and legitimacy of many governments. Economic changes have also threatened many group identities and communities.
Modern communications makes such appeals more effective.
In many cases comparatively minor differences have been exaggerated into the grounds for bloody conflict. Nye argues that two dynamics give rise to communal conflicts in such weakened nations. Second, ethnic identities are seen as offering alternative grounds of legitimacy. The democratic great powers are not directly at risk from communal conflicts. However, via modern communications and media, communal conflicts do have a domestic effect on the democratic great powers.