| No. 43 | [ Home Page ] [ Index ] | November/December 1995 |
World C ministry applied to World A
Mongolia: A Youth With A Mission team has respondedto felt needs in this World A country by establishing a recovery programfor alcoholics. Official statistics count 23% of the men in Ulaanbaataras having "a drinking problem." Though the Christian counselorsare not allowed to initiate discussions about God, the program, styledafter Alcoholics Anonymous, emphasizes "dependence on a higher power"for recovery (EP news service, 14 July 1995:11). This team had alreadyestablished a similar program in the USA. This case provides an importantlesson for agencies who are bogged down in World C, the Christian world.Whereas most Christian resources are aimed at helping fellow Christiansin World C settings, there are many parallel problems among World A peoples.Many lessons learned in World C could be applied (in a culturally-sensitiveway) in World A.
Cooperation: a key to world evangelization
A major cooperative effort in film evangelization is takingshape for India. The coalition so far includes 24 mission agencies, 20denominations, and 15 independent congregations. They plan to recruit,train, equip and send 750 "Jesus" Film teams throughout Indiain the next 5 years. Last year 3.5 million Indians viewed the film, and54,567 decisions for Christ were recorded (Advance, July 1995).This type of cooperation is important to evangelizing World A. The needsof World A require the resources of all denominations and traditions ofChristianity.
A rarity: a global plan’s monitoring report
We are at the half-way point in the "Decade of Evangelization"and yet are seeing hardly any statistical progress reports coming forthfrom those leading AD 2000 global plans. One exception to this is "Worldby 2000," a cooperative global plan with the goal of making the gospelavailable by radio in all mega-languages (those with a million or morespeakers) of the world by the year 2000. A brief summary of progress whtmlresented recently in a Trans World Radio publication. It reported that(by the "World by 2000" count) 170 of the world’s 372 mega-languages(or 46%) now have gospel broadcasts on radio. The remaining languages,according to the report, are divided between 91 "needing gospel broadcasts"and 111 which "need more research." Note that a large percentageof the 170 had broadcasts before the global plan was launched in 1985.The article noted that TWR broadcasts in 87 mega-languages, of which 27(or 31%) are a result of the "World by 2000" program (TWR isone of the four major broadcasting agencies involved). Note also that itwill be much more difficult to find capable radio preachers for the languagesthat remain than it has been to find preachers for the languages so far(TWR report, July-September 1995). "World by 2000" iscertainly an excellent plan, a model in many ways, that has resulted instrategic new action--but it is clear at this point in the decade that completesuccess is unlikely by AD 2000.
Understanding church growth in China
It is widely known that Christianity is growing rapidly in China, largelydue to the explosive growth of the house church movement. The followingstory helps fill out, illustrate, and explain the nature of that growth."Tau Pan" (name changed) was a 23-year-old Christian studentin China. Three times she heard God ask her, "Who should I send_"before she finally surrendered. She began evangelizing and was plantingchurches before she finished her course. Then she received training inhow to help others start churches. She used the "Jesus" Filmfor evangelism. Before she began, only 3 small churches were in her districtin northern China. Now 233 new house churches have been planted, 35 ofthem with more than 500 members. She now has 30 full-time workers withher in this movement. Since 1992 she has been travelling to other partsof China. Tau Pan and her team once visited a government district chiefin the hospital. He had been diagnosed with irreversibly fatal cancer.She prayed for him, he was healed, he became a Christian, quit his post,and with his family has joined her church. Many other government officials,seeing this, have also become Christians (DAWN Friday fax, 18 June1995).
A World A accident waiting to happen_
In 1961, before plate tectonics had revolutionized geology, a site innorthern India was chosen for a dam. Today, in a deep canyon in the foothillsof the Himalayas near Tehri, 1,000 workers are building this dam--expectedto be completed in four years. It will provide electricity and drinkingwater for millions of people in the region. However, the dam will standin one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. East and west of thedam, major earthquakes occurred in 1897, 1905, 1934, and 1950 though nomajor quake has occurred in the "Central Gap" since 1255 when1/3 of Nepal’s population (including the king) were killed by a massivequake. Thus 740 years of strain has been building up. A massive quake couldkill up to 200 million people. The dam’s designers have already spent $200million and have not heeded warnings from seismologists. If the dam collapsedduring an earthquake 700 billion gallons of water would rush down towardsthe the holy cities of Rishikesh and Hardwar where 200,000 live and manythousands of pilgrims visit. Worse yet would be the consequence that muchof northern India would be without power while trying to recover from thismassive disaster. The Indian government faces a heavy burden--the poor needpower and water but they live in one of the world's worst earthquake zoneswith no protection (Discover, July 1995:80-84). From the viewpoint of worldevangelization, time could be running out for the mosaic of peoples livingin this region. Most have not been penetrated with the gospel and solidplans to reach them have not yet been developed or implemented. This isa heavier burden for Christians who have the responsibility to warn thesepeoples of an even greater disaster that is sure to come!
The nature of breakthroughs
by E. Michael J.
Most Great Commission Christians pray for breakthroughs. For some itis a constant theme in their thinking and praying about the vast unfinishedtask. Not every event of progress is a breakthrough. When a breakthroughhappens, a difficult obstacle is suddenly removed, a burst of new progressis suddenly released, a long-term problem is suddenly solved, or long-desiredgoals are suddenly achieved. On a given task or challenge, the happy daysfollowing a breakthrough are much different from the difficult days precedingit.
The recent death of medical scientist Dr. Jonas Salk provides an occasionto reflect on his achievements, and in that to look more carefully at thenature and causes of breakthroughs. We can then see instructive parallelswith the breakthroughs we hope, work, and pray for in world evangelization.
In 1955 it was announced that the new polio vaccine developed by Salkwas safe and effective. In the five years prior to that announcement, anaverage of 25,000 new paralytic polio cases appeared each year in the UnitedStates alone. In 1952, 58,000 cases were reported and more than 3,000 peopledied from the disease. Just a few years after 1955 there were only a handfulof new polio cases each year, and in 1969 there was not a single deathfrom the disease. Now it is nearly eradicated worldwide.
Salk was almost immediately acclaimed as a public hero. The chairmanof the American Medical Association declared the breakthrough "oneof the greatest events in the history of medicine." An opinion pollfound Americans ranked Salk between Churchill and Gandhi as a revered figureof modern history. Nobel laureate Francis Crick noted Salk "had beenthe personal hero of millions of men and women. Few have made one discoverythat has benefited humanity so greatly."
How was it that this man was able to produce such a breakthrough_
Breakthroughs are an important, and needed, component in the progressof world evangelization. Many imagine that such breakthroughs come as aresult of Divine initiative alone, but that is almost never the case. Aswith all other advances in evangelization, there is always both a humanside and a divine side. God works, people work, God works through people,and breakthroughs happen. So this outstanding example of a breakthroughin the field of medicine is instructive for Great Commission Christians.
Factors that could increase the odds for, or hasten missions breakthroughsinclude: diligent compiling of missions statistics, solid collecting andanalyzing of bibliography, large-scale research funding for World A description,research on the nature and processes of what we call evangelism, and researchon ways to reverse today’s total imbalance in application of Christianresources from World C to World A.
Caught between tribalism and globalization
Journalist Benjamin Barber sees our world today as caught between twopowerful forces: 1) the tribalization of cultures and 2) the integrationof the globe through technology and corporate expansion. In his book Jihadvs. McWorld (Times Books, 1995) Barber sees these two forces lullingpeople into passivity. His analysis of these trends comes at a moment ofserendipity: with the world's focus on Bosnia and with the recent mergersand acquisitions of communications giants, Barber uses "jihad"to describe a wide range of intolerant organizations from the Middle Eastto the far right in the United States. These groups have a deep fear ofmodernity. The hatred spawned by jihad undermines the democratic valuesof tolerance and pluralism.
More subtle is the influence and power of the massive multinationalcorporations. "McWorld creates a society of consumers, buyers, andsellers who have little sense of civic responsibility" Barber writes.What is novel about Barber's analysis is how these two trends feed eachother. "The modernizing forces of McWorld frighten traditionalistsand drive them further into jihad; the battles of jihad serve as fodderfor the newscasts and movies of McWorld" (Chronicle of higher education,September 29, 1995:A12,18). This dynamic tension between religion and marketforces is bound to be a significant consideration for efforts in worldevangelization well into the 21st century.
A trend to save the environment
Half of the world’s population prepares their food and heats their homeswith coal and the more traditional fuels of dung, crop residues, wood,and charcoal. In rural areas, women and children spend the better partof each day collecting wood--thus contributing to deforestation and soilerosion. The fires they build in their homes produce smoke that then leadsto respiratory disease--the leading health hazard in most developing nations--killingfour to five million children a year globally. In the cities, the urbanpoor face similar challenges, spending a significant portion of their incomesfor cooking and heating--also polluting the environment as a consequence.
Since the 1970s international aid organizations have focused on improvingcookstoves as a solution. As a result there are 120 million of these simplebut improved stoves in homes in China, and village training programs allover Africa. Nonetheless, there have been many missteps: stoves that aretoo bulky, or training programs that are offered only to men when womendo most of the cooking. Efforts to remedy these problems are focusing ondesign improvements in stoves and more careful planning of training programs.Thus the halting first steps of the appropriate technology movement arenow being advanced by solid research and more effective implementation.Results include more efficient stoves in half the homes in Kenya and betterstove programs in India and China (Scientific American, July 1995:72-75).
Cultural relativism questioned
Cultural relativism, long a key concept in anthropology, asserts thatsince each culture has its own values and practices, anthropologists shouldnot make value judgments about cultural differences. Today this stanceis being challenged by those in the discipline who recognize the need forhuman rights advocacy by those closest to a people. In the past anthropologistshave withdrawn from key discussions on human rights, most notably fromthose that led to the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"in 1947-48. Anthropologists have spoken out against Nazi genocide or SouthAfrican apartheid but have been deliberately silent about female circumcisionor infanticide. Violence against women is becoming a rallying point foranthropologists who see it as a violation of basic human rights. AnthropologistCarolyn Fluehr-Lobban, who spent 25 years in the Sudan, has taken a public stand against female circumcision. She realized that "there was alarger moral agenda than myself, larger than Western culture or the cultureof the northern Sudan or my discipline. I decided to join colleagues fromother disciplines and cultures in speaking out against the practice."Fluehr-Lobban advocates that anthropologists should get involved in internationaldialogue and defend basic human rights--they can no longer be bystanders(Chronicle of higher education, June 9, 1995:B1-2).
New People Profile
This issue we are highlighting the Brahuiof Pakistan. One of the unusual features of the Brahui is the fact that very few are urban dwellers. In Pakistan just over a third of thepopulation live in cities. The global percentage of those who live in citiesis over 45%. The Brahui therefore need strategies which are primarily ruralin orientation. As some evangelization resources are already available(gospel portions, "Jesus" Film). missionaries and evangelistshave at least some tools to work with. The Brahui need two things: (1)a nonresidential missionary or strategic partnership to focus attentionon them, and (2) an increasing presence of Christians preaching the gospel.Then the Brahui will have opportunities to meet Christ as Savior.
Recent titles with bearing on our monitoring purpose
What is life_ The next fifty years: speculations on the future ofbiology edited by Michael P. Murphy and Luke O’Neill (Cambridge UniversityPress, 1995, $24.95) presents the views of many outstanding scientistson the current central problems and future directions in biology.
Old Believers in modern Russia by Roy R. Robson (Northern IllinoisUniversity Press, 1995, 250 pp., $30.00) shows how Russia’s most traditionalreligious group created a "culture of community" distinct fromthe dominant society.
In response to E.D. Hirsch (Cultural literacy) and Allan Bloom(The closing of the American mind), Jim Cummins and Dennis Sayers’Brave new schools: challenging cultural illiteracy through global learningnetworks with a guide to the Internet for parents and teachers (St.Martin’s Press, 1995, 330 pp., $23.95) offers hopeful solutions to thefuture of our children through the use of the Internet.
All students of cartography should pick up a copy of Map projections:a reference manual by L.M. Bugayevskiy and J.P. Snyder (Taylor &Francis Ltd., 1995, 384 pp., $45.00).
The state of minority languages: international perspectives on survivaland decline edited by W. Fase, K. Jhtmlert, and Sj. Kroon (Swets &Zeitlinger, 1995, 300 pp., $57.00) offers important analysis on this globalissue.
An expert on women in the Middle East provides new perspectives in Childrenin the Muslim Middle East edited by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea (Universityof Texas Press, 1995, $22.95).
For the impact of American culture on Christianity see Colleen McDannell’sMaterial Christianity: religion and popular culture in America (YaleUniversity Press, 1996, $35.00).
If you are writing a book, dissertation, or article you might find anew University of Chicago offering helpful. See The craft of research byWayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams (1995, 296 pp.,$12.95).
A good read is The maintenance and transmission of ethnic identity:a study of four ethnic groups of religious Jews in Israel by LindaSoroff (University Press of America, 1995, 260 pp., $44.00).
Daven Michael Kari has compiled a list of 5,200 bibliographies (or bookscontaining substantial bibliographies) on fine arts and Christianity inhis A bibliography of sources in Christianity and the arts (E. Mellen,1995, 764 pp., $139.95).
Robert S. Weaver’s International holidays: 204 countries from 1994through 2015 with tabular appendices of religious holidays, 1900-2100(McFarland, 1995, 361 pp., $45.00) is written for business travelers butwould be useful for missionaries and agencies wanting to avoid inconveniencebased on a country’s holidays.
A millennium of the book: production, design & illustration inmanuscript and print, 900-1900, edited by Robin Myers and Michael Harris(Oak Knoll Press, 1995, 196 pp., $30.00) is a fine collection of mainlyBritish essays from the 16th Annual Conference on Book-Trade History.
The Barnhart concise dictionary of etymology edited by RobertK. Barhart (HarperCollins, 1995, $45.00) offers readers an update of alibrary classic.
For the role mysticism plays in the religions of Egypt see Valerie J.Hoffman’s Sufism, mystics, and saints in Modern Egypt (Universityof South Carolina Press, 1995, $49.95).
Poetry marks time. To see how the end of centuries affects verse readFins de siècle: English poetry in 1590, 1690, 1790, 1890, 1990edited by Elaine Scarry (Johns Hopkins, 1995, 142 pp., $13.95).
At the close of the second millennium, read about the Christianity inthe first in The rise of Western Christendom: triumph and diversity200-1000 A.D. by Peter Brown (Blackwell, 1995, 320 pp., $24.95).
To understand a significant World C people read The Afrikaners: anhistorical interpretation by G.H. Le May (Blackwell, 1995, 320 pp.,$27.95).
An equally significant World A people is examined in The Berbersby Michael Brett and Elizabeth Fentress (Blackwell, 1995, 320 pp.,$39.95).
A dictionary of Evangelical biography edited by Donald Lewis(Blackwell, 1995, 1201 pp., $150.00) covers figures of historical, literaryor religious significance who lived between 1730 and 1860 and were associatedwith the Evangelical Movement in the English-speaking world.
The Oxford encyclopedia of the Reformation edited by Hans J.Hillerbrand (Oxford, 1995, 2,112 pp. in four volumes, $450.00) covers theentire range of religious and social changes wrought by the Reformationincluding developments in politics, economics, demographics, art, and literature.
To understand public health issues, nuclear use and waste disposal,air and water pollution and a host of other environmental issues in theformer Soviet Union read Environmental resources and constraints inthe former Soviet republics edited by Philip R. Pryde (Westview, 1995,366 pp., $59.85).
Traders and raiders on China’s northern frontier by Jenny F.So and Emma C. Bunker (University of Washington Press, 1995, 208 pp., $35.00)offers a glimpse into a turbulent history in a remote area of China.
How do businesses operate in the global paradox of interdependence vs.the powerful counter-tendencies of nationalism_ Marketing in a multiculturalworld: ethnicity, nationalism, and cultural identity edited by JaneenArnold Costa and Gary J. Bamossy (Sage Publications, 1995, 341 pp., $24.95)offers many clues plus six case studies.
In case you missed it, pick up Shireen T. Hunter’s The Transcaucasusin transition: nation-building and conflict (Center for Strategic andInternational Studies, 1994, 223 pp., $19.95) for an analysis of Armenia,Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the region as a whole.
Demographic data provides the basis for study of many cultural changes.See this demonstrated among Malay peoples in Gavin W. Jones’ Marriageand divorce in Islamic Southeast Asia (Oxford, 1994, 348 pp., $49.95).
What effects have technological breakthroughs had on human societiesthroughout history_ James Burke and Robert Ornstein see unhealthy consequencesin The axemaker's gift: a double-edged history of human culture (Putnam,1995, 368 pp., $26.95). Nonetheless, they contend that decentralized computernetworks may empower non-axemakers and offer hope for the future.
A beautifully-illustrated book on folk dress around the world is FrancesKennett's Ethnic dress (Facts on File, 1995, 192 pp., $40.00).
The last forbidden kingdom: Mustang, land of Tibetan Buddhism byClara Marullo (Tuttle, 1995, 156 pp., $40.00) describes in text and photographsa relatively intact, but recently threatened, outpost of Tibetan life andculture, a significant World A people.
In The quantum dot: a journey into the future of microelectronics(Oxford University Press, 1995, 211 pp., $25.00) Richard Turton predictsmicrochips with more than a billion bits, high-temperature superconductors,and incredibly small and fast designer atoms.
The future of warfare by Bevin Alexander (W.W. Norton, 1995,235 pp., $22.00) examines the impact of new military technologies, increasedguerrilla warfare, and other military developments.
A brief but valuable introduction to developments in the region is TheCentral Asian republics: fragments of empire, magnets of wealth byCharles Undeland and Nicholas Platt (The Asia Society, 1994, 143 pp., $9.95).The authors contend that Central Asia’s future is still mainly in the handsof Russians.
Originally written as a textbook for the course "The History ofAfrican Christianity" at Makerere University in Uganda, John Baur’s2000 years of Christianity in Africa, an African history 62-1992 (PaulinesPublications, 1994, 560 pp., $12.00) is a surprisingly comprehensive andbalanced work.
Jews marrying outside the faith
The (USA) National Jewish Population Survey has presented these statisticson Jews who married outside of their faith in recent years:
| Before 1965 | 10% of all USA Jews |
| 1965-1974 | 25% |
| 1974-1984 | 44% |
| 1985-1990 | 52% |
This will likely produce a great effect, in time, on the number of Jews(by religion) in the USA, and, most likely, in other similar Western nations(Los Angeles Times, 17 June 1995).
Cars to reach one billion shortly
In 1965 there were some 120 million cars in the world. By 1995 theyhad quadrupled to over 500 million. The figure is expected to double againto 1 billion by AD 2010. One obvious result will be a dramatic increasein traffic congestion. Less obvious is the expectation that elderly peoplein developed countries will use their cars more after the turn of the century,perhaps as much as 33% more. Thus, many more elderly will be on the roadsin the 21st century (The Futurist, July/August 1995:6).
American Buddhists not united
The 2 million Buddhists in America fall into three major groups. (1)First are "Elite Buddhists," who are above average in income,education, and status and who stress meditation and spiritual enlightenment.Then (2) "Evangelical Buddhists" are the result of missionaryactivity in the U.S.; most belong to Soka Gokkai, which stresses chanting.Finally, (3) "Ethnic Buddhists" are recent immigrants, mainlyfrom Asia. They emphasize the role of language, traditional festivals,and culture. These three groups often ignore or dismiss each other. SomeBuddhists are beginning to work on an ecumenical agenda to bring thesegroups together (Religion watch, October 1995:2-3, quoting Tricycle,Fall 1995).
Milk miracle and Hindu revival
Religion watch (November/December 1995:4-5) reports on a seriesof alleged miracles involving the Hindu god Ganesha (elephant-headed divine"remover of obstacles"). Hinduism today (November 1995) reportedthe phenomenon started in New Delhi when a man dreamt that Ganesha cravedmilk. The man rushed to the nearest temple, left an offering of milk, andwitnessed the statue consuming the milk. This news spread rapidly newsvia faxes and the Internet. Hindus were encouraged to offer milk to Ganeshaimages in their temples. The result has been described as "an instantaneousreligious revival among nearly one billion people." Though the Indianpress claimed the phenomenon was part of a plot by nationalist Hindu politicalparties trying to win the next election, most see the alleged miraclesas a "very good omen".
What impact do such events have on world evangelization_ A very largeportion of the Hindu world still remains beyond the current reach of thegospel. At a time when many Christians are considering how their messagecan be more relevant to Hindus, these events tend to reinforce traditionalbeliefs. At the same time, Western Christianity (and to some extent itsinfluence in the East) tends to demythologize miracles in any context,offering skepticism and scientific rationalization and explanation. Perhaps,in response to these miracles, Indian and Western mission agencies shouldtake these claims more seriously and offer a biblical response that isboth holistic and convincing.
Are you prepared for the future of war_
Master strategist Edward N. Luttwak demonstrates how one of the mostsignificant consequences of the passing of the Cold War is the increasein hot wars--limited ethnic and national protracted skirmishes. In his article"Toward post-heroic warfare" (Foreign affairs, May/June1995:109-122) Luttwak states that "the Cold War suppressed many potentialshooting wars in a great part of the world because neither superpower wouldtolerate them within its own camp." All this has changed in the post-ColdWar era. Wars are easily started and former restraints are no longer inplace. At first these conflicts seemed many confined to post-Soviet regions(Bosnia, Moldavia, Chechnya, etc.) but lately wars in South America, mountingtension between Greece and Turkey, and Pakistan's increasing boldness inKashmir suggest "a new, much less restrained culture of war is emergingand spreading far and wide." Luttwak argues United States policy isbased on old definitions of war (grand international strategy) and woefullyinadequate for emerging realities. He then outlines the Roman siege model(getting the enemy to a place where the Romans were in control) as a possiblesolution for American policy in relation to hot wars.
| total Pop | Christians | |
| Global | 1.75% | 1.67% |
| Africa | 2.81% | 3.64% |
| Asia | 1.92% | 4.62% |
| Europe | 0.41% | 0.25% |
| Latin Amer | 2.15% | 1.95% |
| North Amer | 1.03% | 0.58% |
| Oceania | 1.57% | 0.97% |
Not yet a wired world
Are you under the impression that "everyone" now has a computerand is active in the online world_ In fact, only 16% of American householdshave a computer and a modem, and only half of those subscribe to an onlineservice. There are 42 million personal computers in Europe, but the largestonline service, CompuServe, has only 300,000 subscribers there (Bill Gatessyndicated column, 24 June 1995). Mission executives and activists mustbe careful to realize that if they themselves are spending much time incyberspace, their own experience is likely relatively unusual.
Science, reason, and the postmodern
Adding to the culture wars in America (see James Davison Hunter’s bookCulture wars) is the battle over the position of science in society. Inthe past dozen years science and scientists have come under increasingattacks by postmodernist critics who question the objectivity of not onlythe results of scientific investigation but of the discipline itself. Nowscientists are beginning to fight back. Much of the response is characterizedin Norman Levitt and Paul R. Gross’ book Higher superstition: the academicleft and its quarrels with science (John Hopkins University Press, 1994).However, some of the rhetoric used by scientists is strangely reminiscentof that used by their critics (hence "culture wars"). Scientistshave enjoyed an elite position in the West since World War II unrivaledby any other discipline. The response to attack has been to defend thisposition without carefully listening to critics. Science is not an entirelyorderly and linear process: it is deeply influenced by cultural valuesand practices. On the other hand, science can have enough of an objectivefoundation for results to be useful. Scientists and their critics needto meet on middle ground and find ways to work together in the future (Chronicleof higher education, September 29, 1995:B1-2).
The vulnerability of e-mail
Recently, an American missionary working in Russia found out that allof his e-mail communications had been monitored by the government and hecould expect trouble renewing his visa. As a result Mark Elliot advises"it would appear to be unwise to communicate sensitive information,including strategies, personnel issues, and finances, via Russian e-mail.Since mail and fax also lack assured privacy, Western courier servicesor hand delivery of especially sensitive communications would seem advisable"(East-West church and ministry report, Summer 1995:6).
Mission leaders unplugged
In 1995 MARC published a Directory of schools and professors of missionin the USA and Canada (John Siewert, ed., 124 pp.). It listed mission professorsand all members of three major North American missiological societies (AmericanSociety of Missiology, Association of Professors of Mission, and EvangelicalMissiological Society). One surprising finding: only about 15% of theseleaders provided an e-mail address (p. xi). For most scholars today, e-mailis the most widely-used means of sending and receiving messages, thanksto its rich advantages. The same may be true in the world of business andvirtually all the professions--or if not, it soon will be. It appears thatmission leaders and thinkers are sorely behind in this game, and thus arehindering their own vital work.
The Future of the World’s Peoples
"A world of nations [ethne] whose identities are respected andprotected by ‘umbrella’ states is at present a remote possibility. Of moreimmediate importance is the need to strike a balance between the htmlirationsof submerged and unrecognized ethne and the interests and anxieties ofstate elites and their core ethne, if the cycle of ethnic terror and violenceis to be broken." --Anthony D. Smith in The ethnic origins of nations,Blackwell, 1986.