This chapter argues that powerful forces are redefining identities within and between frontiers, producing conditions that denationalize and deterritorialize us as we travel, mix, mingle, develop a global framework, and as we reconstitute national or local identities in new spaces. New or modified identities can emerge in the context of the high influx of immigrants who struggle with the politics of incorporation, and in the context of “invisible migrants” who do not necessarily want to become citizens or make political and economic claims in host communities. Global villages are emerging with remarkable zones of discontent and crisis. The leading arenas of discontent have been economic and religious; formidable pressures turn culture into the central core of globalization itself. As my arguments advance, I will mention new opportunities and disasters, changing world politics, the nation in the context of the world, cultures and fear of cultural clashes, and new inventions and their impact.

A theme such as this requires no justification: hundreds of people have lost their lives in religious violence in different parts of Nigeria, fear of ethnic conflicts and numerous cases of ethnic cleansing have been reported, demographic shifts affect the conduct of politics and resource control, and nonstate actors, such as religious organizations, are powerful. In view of internal tumult and other recent developments, such as the failed attempt by a Nigerian in December 2009 to light an explosive to bring down a commercial plane and fears that a radicalized segment of the Islamic population may promote acts of terrorism, Nigeria has been declared a “country of interest” by the United States.