September 11, 2001, may — at least at first — seem like an inappropriate addition to the history of nationalism, given al-Qaida's explicitly stated global pretensions.

In fact, now that the initial shock and confusion have given way to a more sober perspective, the terrorist attacks of that awful day are increasingly seen — as they should be — as one among numerous other nationalist milestones.

From this perspective, the attacks no longer appear, as they did to so many immediately afterward, to reflect an incomprehensible, irrational and uncivilized mentality, or a different civilization altogether — premodern, unenlightened and fundamentally "traditional" (in other words, undeveloped).