Patriotism is strong nationalistic feeling for a country whose borders and whose legitimacy and whose ethnic composition is taken for granted.

America's entire war on terror is an exercise in imperialism. This may come as a shock to Americans, who don't like to think of their country as an empire. But what else can you call America's legions of soldiers, spooks and special forces straddling the globe?

There's a civic nationalism in Britain and dozens of other countries.

I can't think of this country without Quebec. Je parle francais. And when I think about being a Canadian, speaking French is part of it.

Loving a country is an act of the imagination.

I'd be wary of writing this country off. There are some scary and ugly things about it, but it remains a turbulently, explosively innovative place.