Daniel Ziblatt begins his analysis with a striking puzzle: Upon national unification, why was Germany formed as a federal nation-state and Italy as a unitary nation-state?
Threatened by Hungarian nationalism in the Revolution of 1848 and hoping for national unification and autonomy within the Austrian Empire, the Croats, under Ban Josip Jelačić, an Illyrianist, sided with the Austrian dynasty against the Hungarians.
"They create an obstacle to national unification.
Kim is seeking national unification thru military conquest or revolution.
Thus, China has an "arduous task to safeguard its national unification, territorial integrity and development interests".
This inward-looking mentality has its origins in the experience of national unification.
There were also bitter disputes over the form that national unification should assume.
"It is a problem either to safeguard national unification or to split the motherland," he said.
"The summit opened a new chapter for national unification," he said.
The period under the lent of investigation spans from national unification to the present (1863-2014).
The attempt to achieve national unification through liberal reform was followed by an attempt to achieve it through conservative statesmanship.
