Ethno-Nationalism, and Emerging World (Dis) Order

Ethnic dimensions of politics and political dimensions of ethnicity is an area of which the scholarship remained oblivious for long. However, the integration of the two Vietnams, two Yemens and the two Germany’s, and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and its threat all the world over have brought ethno-nationalism to the centre-stage of political discourse in our times. Sway of ethno-national upsurge is complete. It has afflicted every political system—the most advanced, the modern, the most backward and the underdeveloped, democratic, authoritarian/totalitarian, federal, quasi-federal, unitary. The long settled nation-states and the ones grappling with the task of nation-building alike across the globe also fall in this matrix. That overarching reach speaks volumes of the quantum of autonomy and salience the ethnic variable has gained as a political force. The much-hyped nationalism and democracy as the core values of the modern world order have failed to address the issues raised by segments of populations across the nations. Hence, imperative need to put in place post-national and post-democratic world order so as to meet the challenges posed by ethno-nationalism. The present volume is a modest attempt to throw light on these issues in their global, regional and sub-regional perspectives.