Diversionary War's Nationalism Dilemma

This paper attempts to demonstrate that playing the card of nationalism is not as easy as previous discussions expect. The mechanism of nationalism is overemphasized based on research concerning diversionary war theory and democratization and war hypothesis. Most states that seek to divert public attention possess limited capacity. They worry about the possibility of losing control toward nationalist movements, thus avoid stirring up nationalist sentiments at home. Variation in state capability is the key factor in explaining the different attitudes on nationalism among states. Investigations starting from state capability also shed some lights on our further consideration about democratization, nationalism and war.