I always wondered - why people use a nation-state notion? Why not just a state or a country? USA is not a nation-state, or UK, or India, or Russia, etc. Does your question imply that none of these countries are capable of orchestrating this and only nation-states can do it?
> I always wondered - why people use a nation-state notion?
It's a shibboleth, similar to HN favorites: "orders of magnitude" and "orthogonal". Shibboleths are often social signifiers, sociology has lots of research on why people use them
New Jersey is a state. I do not think that they have the wherewithal to attempt such. Scotland is a country, but I don't think their occupiers would allow them to try. Granted, it is an awkward term, and I too wish there was a better one.
>Does your question imply that none of these countries are capable of orchestrating this and only nation-states can do it?
It's not clear to me that Russia can summon the ambition. But point conceded.
Well, is China a nation-state or a multi-national state, or essentially just a country(state)? English is my third language, so I just wonder do I miss some nuance here.