In an escalation that shocked even seasoned observers of Southeast Asian politics, Thailand and Cambodia went to war last month. Dozens were killed, hundreds of thousands displaced. The violence ranged from infantry firefights to artillery and rocket barrages that struck civilian centers. Even jet fighters that had never been used before in actual combat were deployed.

For what? A border temple, centuries-old ruins, and vague claims of cultural pride. Yet to treat this war as an irrational spasm or a misunderstanding would be to miss the point: this was not a conflict over ancient stones, but the consequence of elite manipulation of nationalist myths for political survival.

The Thai and Cambodian ruling classes, both facing domestic crises of legitimacy, turned to the old standby, nationalism, to consolidate support and distract from their failures. The nationalist turn is not a new tactic in Southeast Asia. It is a legacy of empire, colonialism, and the modern state’s attempts to define itself against the “other” — in this case, to be found across a border drawn by French imperialists.