- Kumar (2003) has discussed the fact that, unlike the Scots, Welsh and Irish, the English find it difficult to say who they are, and that English national identity is elusive
- Sardar (2002) suggests that the world is in the middle of a global identity crisis, in which many of the old divides of East versus West and capitalists versus communists, by which we had defined ourselves, have broken down
- Anderson (1983) argues that a 'nation' is an 'imagined community', in that members of a nation will never meet most of their fellow members, national identity is socially constructed through symbols such as: the flag and the anthem, rituals such as national holidays and festivals