The age of nationalism has often been declared a bygone era. But it is by far not at its end. In the years 1990-1993, more nation states than ever before came into being within a short period of time - 15 hybrid ethno-national states and three fragile states of federated nations. Since then, of the latter, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia fell apart and the other two are imperiled by ethno-national movements. State and ethnic nationalism have combined in each country in curious forms, allowing for a gradual national consciousness, which aims at multinational federalism or national autonomy as an alternative to national secession. In this volume, authors from the East and the West discuss the results of many years of research on nationalism, as well as the new approaches to the understanding of a nation. In addition, the failure of the multinational states - the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, the partial national state German Democratic Republic, and presumably also Bosnia and Herzegovina - are analyzed. After the breakdown of the multinational states and the polyethnic empires some decades ago, the question is raised: Will an integrated European Union succeed in finding an adequate answer to nationalism and the nationalities problem?