National Identity and Geopolitical Visions

Book excerpt: From the Third Reich to Bosnia, nationalism - a sense of a nation's place in the world - has been responsible for much bloodshed. Nationalism may be manipulated by political leaders or governments but it springs from the people. Something in the history and environment of a national group creates it. This volume aims to locate and analyze the myth of national identity and its value in creating pride, deflecting fear or legitimating aggression. A range of essays - on Britain, the United States, Germany, Russia, Iraq, Serbia, Argentina, Australia, and India - illustrate the different manifestations of the geographical imagination across the countries of the world.