Why is the idea of “the nation” so powerful? Why does this entity exert such a profound gravitational pull? Why do nations have “enemies?”

Nationalism is an ideology revolving around worship of “the country.” We say that we live within a "secular" society. But this is not the case.

Underlying everything—the bedrock, the Matrix—is this sacred object, one’s nation. Post-modernists claim to have “problematized” or deconstructed most concepts. But the idea of the nation reigns supreme, constituting the air we breathe; the sea in which we are immersed.

John Lennon asked us to “imagine there’s no country.” We don’t have this kind of imagination.

Alongside the idea of the country is the idea of the enemy. Nations want enemies. They need enemies (echoes of Jack Nicholson). Without an enemy (internal or external), national life seems puerile and meaningless. People need to be continually enraged. This is what is happening now baby ("Murray the K"). Everyone is enraged about some group or class of people.

After the fall of Communism, there was Jerry Springer, O. J. Simpson and Princess Di. It seemed that the "end of history" had finally arrived. However, Bin Laden couldn't bear this state of affairs. America was Allah's enemy--that had to be punished.

September 11 rescued the United States from this empty world; a world without an enemy. A new evil enemy emerged--against which the nation could do battle. 

When there is an enemy, people need a leader (to protect them from the enemy). Nations come into being insofar as there are enemies to fear and do battle against. Paranoia is the source of national unity.