"Hindutva" radical religious nationalism animates millions on one side, and an increasingly hyper-orthodox Islam feeds xenophobia on the other.
Resentment over reports that the Japanese had failed to show much appreciation for American aid ended up heightening xenophobia on both sides of the Pacific.
The domestic fallout from these massive arrivals has been – compared to the xenophobia on show in much of Europe – rather contained.
The average citizen might not want to talk about it because it's a divisive, politically charged topic with a tinge of xenophobia on the side.
If votes for other parties split the right way, the BNP may just win a seat in the European Parliament in June.But for some foreigners, the BNP puts its xenophobia on hold and tries to be nice.
Indeed, in a damning overview in yesterday's Spectator, Nick Cohen decisively highlights the systematic pattern of overt xenophobia on the part of Ukip candidates and representatives, demolishing the myth of the party's love of Britain.
This may well stir up more xenophobia on the far right, which did badly in the general election last month, but much better in some earlier regional ones, by calling for the expulsion of "foreign criminals" and for "German jobs for Germans first".
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the few prominent jurists to speak out against this trend in recent years, gave an on-the-money speech last week pointing out the xenophobia on recent display in the confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan.
Another popular idea is to turn the slur of English xenophobia on its head, by highlighting the fact that England much more than Scotland, Wales or Ireland has always been a hybrid nation, which has thrived on assimilating generations of immigrants.For politicians, however, the idea of Englishness remains a dangerous subject.
Professor Sir David Greenaway, vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham and chair of the Russell Group, says: "We simply will not tolerate abuse of this sort and any student or staff member who experiences racism or xenophobia on or off our campuses can be assured this will be taken extremely seriously.
The blogger says many people blame the former president for letting extremism spiral and for not putting and end to "imams' hate speech, bigotry, misogyny and xenophobia" on some media channels.
