Following on Wednesday's talk, this lecture will focus on the contribution of nationalism to the emotional repertoire of humanity. At the core of the argument will be the claim that self-realization, including its central venues and expressions such as love and happiness, was such a contribution and that these emotions, contrary to what is generally believed, are therefore functions of nationalism and uniquely modern.

The talk will focus on the nature of nationalism and its spread, between the 16th and the 20th centuries, within its original monotheistic civilization. This will be contrasted with the particular dynamics of the globalization of national consciousness in the last decades, as it breaks through these borders and penetrates into China and India.