If one studies the twentieth century closely, it is clear that the most pervasive ideology was neither communism nor capitalism but nationalism. Wars took place, murders were celebrated and mourned, people were encouraged to look beyond their immediate family and identify with a collective and at the same time the locus of empathy was particularised – all in the name of nationalism. A careful analysis of the nationalised lives people have lived in contemporary times shows that, though the ideal norm is of a nation with its own state, in reality, states are mostly multinational and it is states that often seek to create a sense of nationhood among their people to ensure stability. Nationalism is the primary ideology through which the state seeks to gain internal sovereignty. The exact form of dominant nationalism within a state depends on many factors. The State may be successful in fostering an inclusive nationalism or it may come up with a majoritarian nationalism that excludes minorities within. The latter then may lead to minority nationalisms and sometimes violent resistance to the existing state and demand for a new state. What I have said so far about nationalism as an ideology captures many events of the last century – inter-state wars as well as civil wars. There is no doubt that nationalism matters in global politics.