... is a group of people united by a mistaken view about the past and a hatred of their neighbours." - Ernest Renan (commonly quoted, though I have not sourced it yet).
I love it's toughness, and in a way I believe it's true, in fact when you mentioned it on my blog I wrote it down immediately! I actually think that it suits many nations... I.E. England and France (mocking each other for centuries) Poland and Germany (having that hidden hatred within the border area) and so on. Every nation unites in the hatred of another...
carra: a nation is just a specific instance of the abstract concept of "a group". The group may be a fmaily, or a gang, or a faith. But, if we closely examine most such groups, we note that they rely on justifying themselves by diminishing non-members.
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But I think it works well for any tribal notion (e.g. Capulet & Montague, Jets and Sharks, etc)