In recent years, global attention has turned to nationalist leaders such as Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin, raising urgent questions about their impact on political stability and international security. This book offers a systematic account of how nationalist state leaders destabilise domestic politics and the global order.

Drawing on state-of-the-art statistical analyses, it shows how such leaders fuel the most destructive forms of political violence: ethnic terrorism, ethnic conflict, irredentism and interstate war. It explains how nationalist rhetoric and policies strengthen co-ethnic support while incentivising marginalised groups to respond violently to state repression.

Examining post-colonial and post-Cold War contexts, the book argues that elite level nationalism is a central yet overlooked catalyst of contemporary security crises.