In an advanced modern society, such as Germany, intellectuals have no difficulty using openly nationalist language to convince a nationally conscious populace of threats to national prestige. By contrast, in a society where national consciousness is limited to the better educated (for example, the Arab Middle East), they must resort to traditional means of mobilization.
在发达的现代社会（如德国）里，知识分子可以毫无困难地使用明白无误的民族主义语言让具有民族意识的大众相信其民族地位受到了威胁。相反，在一个民族意识只局限于受过良好教育人群的社会（如阿拉伯中东），就必须通过传统的动员手段。在中东，传统的动员力量就是伊斯兰教，因此对民族地位的威胁就会以对伊斯兰教的威胁出现。