Delicate matters

Peixuan Xie

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: A clearing near a sugar plantation in Preah Vihear. Photo: Peixuan Xie

Sentiments are personal and malleable, difficult to analyse. The love and pride one feels for a home nation is one example. How this love should manifest is a contested matter in public discourse.

Much has been written about nationalism, but we shouldn’t be too overawed by the existing literature to examine the interplay between national pride and other things, like peace. The crafting of nationalist discourse maintains curious ties with the making of peace in our age of realpolitik. The recent Thai–Cambodian conflict is but one reminder of the relevance and peculiarity of these ties.

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