How can we explain the appearance of religious nationalism in countries that have undergone a thorough process of secularization, for example, Turkey and Israel? What are the historic and religious roots of Russia’s hostility toward the West, which has continued even after the fall of the Iron Curtain? Why does the unofficial British anthem end with a prayer for the building of Jerusalem—in England?

Nationalism and Secularization offers a broad and complex portrayal of the charged relations between nation and religion, on the one hand, and between the development of nationalism and the processes of secularization, on the other—issues that are of great public and scholarly interest worldwide. The articles in the book, the work of leading scholars, examine from diverse disciplinary perspectives the relation between religion and secularization in a series of salient historical models: American, British, German, Turkish, Russian, Polish, and Jewish-Israeli nationalisms. The issues raised in this book are relevant not only to historical and sociological scholarship but also to our understanding of the situation we live in as Israelis and citizens of the world.