In the wake of the revival of European nationalism in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Romano's essay explores the origin of the idea of the modern nation state between 1789 and 1848 when the citizen and the plebiscite replaced the subject as the legitimizing mechanism for national and multinational associations.

In the wake of the revival of European nationalism in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Romano's essay explores the origin of the idea of the modern nation state between 1789 and 1848 when the citizen and the plebiscite replaced the subject as the legitimizing mechanism for national and multinational associations, and its subsequent evolution. He then traces its development to its zenith in 1919, its death in 1945, and its resurrection in 1989. Viewed through the political necessities of the nation state, the tumultuous events of the twentieth century and the recent rekindling of sentiments at the heart of those events take on a fresh perspective.