1. The concept of “ethnic” is used in this context for the American reader. In the European context, the concept of “nationality” or “national community” would be preferable. Within the present collection of studies “ethnicity” and “nationality” is used interchangeably. However, I do wish to point out that it would be more precise to talk of Hungarian communities as “nationality communities.” Both nationality and ethnicity are culturally transmitted characteristics. Unlike racial features, ethnic and national commitments are learned rather than genetically passed from parents to offspring. Socialization inducts individuals into an ethnic or national community. The cultural characteristics that are acquired in this way are closely related to customs and behavior patterns as well as historical circumstances and linguistic or dialectical differences. Ethnic groups, however, tend to be less politicized than nations, but an ethnic group can become a nation over time if it feels threatened in its very existence, and, if it is not too dispersed, in a larger nation or ethnic group. While nations have pronounced cultural commitments, which create a bond of solidarity among those who consider themselves members of a nation, this bond is less developed among ethnic groups. Nations have a strong sense of common interests that predispose them to seek control of their own destiny via some measure of self-determination (e.g., Americans, Russians, Basques, Chechens, Kurds, Hungarians, Romanians). As opposed to this, ethnic groups will not seek political self-determination, either because of a less developed sense of common interests and lower level of self-awareness, or because of insignificant numbers and greater dispersal (e.g., Gypsies in any part of the world, Turkish guest workers in Germany, Italian-Americans, Brazilian Jews, Mexican-Americans).Google Scholar