Wherever the political and socioeconomic conditions of the short- and medium-term timelines fail to provide order and stability, the confessional, ethnic, or tribal identities that emerged over the longue durée gain prominence. The extent to which identities are invented matters little, as long as their invocation helps to appropriate elements of history and harness them to current political goals.
一旦短期和中期时间线的政治和社会经济条件无法提供秩序和稳定，产生于“长时程”的宗教、种族或部落身份就有可能占据主导地位。只要有利于利用历史元素，并让他们接近当前政治目标，身份如何产生不重要。