1. The reaction to the identity construction in a given polity will come from both internal and external sources.

     2. It is easier to understand the internal reactions. These will come primarily from groups and individuals who have commitments to given doctrines. Leading this category will be the adherents of organized belief systems operating on the basis of "total life," where the doctrine demands that every action taken by the adherents must conform to the doctrine.

     3. The extant doctrinal belief systems are usually the most difficult obstacles to the construction of new official identities.

     4. The doctrinal belief systems had the time and opportunity to place their version of cosmic order in the minds of their adherents. These need not only be 'religious,' but can also be 'political' or 'materialistic' beliefs as well.

     5. Since every doctrinal belief system was created after and in most cases in response to an earlier one, each doctrinal belief system also contain built-in defensive mechanisms.

     6. The built-in "defensive mechanisms" of a doctrinal belief system typically include insistence that it is the only true belief system. By extension, all other competing belief systems will be portrayed as heresies.

     7. There will be prescribed sanctions against those who change allegiances by accepting a new belief system. The sanctions against apostates most often begin with threats that the turncoat's soul will not receive salvation; and he will be forever consigned to eternal torture by whatever means.

     8. Some belief systems will permit their adherents to disguise their allegiances. This is done to keep the doctrine alive under conditions threatening to overwhelm their domain. The justification is that it is better to have an underground congregation than have it annihilated.

     9. The struggle for primacy will then be conducted through veiled writings and oral reports, aimed first at undermining the efforts to construct the new identity.

     10. The existing ethnic identities may also resist the new official identity, if the new identity does not conform to already prevailing values. This is especially so when the ethnic identity constitutes a minority within the polity. They could exaggerate the attributes of their identity or go to extremes to stand out.

     11. Regional identities will also make their presence felt.

     12. Regional identities usually give the outward impression that they are born of pride of place.

     13. The composition of regional identities will include elements from ethnicities, belief systems, chosen governance systems, and genuine pride of place.

     14. The complex form of regional identities will make it difficult for the constructors of official identity to identify the primary underlying cause of the regionalist objections.

     15. There will always be competition between polities.

     16. The competition between polities is not limited to commerce (markets and a positive balance of payments), natural resources (including population bases) and land (or access to sea for strategic or commercial purposes).

     17. Competitions between polities will in time turn into conflicts, if they are not attended to.

     18. The conflict between polities may also result from perceptions of previous injustices suffered in the hands of the other side.

     19. The reactions to the efforts to create a new identity within a given polity may come from adjacent borders or from across the oceans. (In the future, it is not inconceivable that it may come from other galaxies as well)

     20. The reactions from adjacent borders or from across the oceans will of course be either in opposition or support; in most cases these will be in the form of objections.

     21. Whether or not the objections are justified on a rational basis will not readily become apparent.

     22. The objections will be cloaked in arguments to conceal their actual objectives.

     23. The outward objections will be made on the bases of current topics. These topics may include, but not limited to, Wilsonian self-determination, F. D. Rooselvelt's Four Freedoms, human rights, Hay's Open Door policy (precursor of open skies and open markets arguments), UN charter, and a multitude of daily concerns.

     24. Underneath most of the objections, regardless of their outward dress, lies the prime reason: maintenance of a certain "world order," preferred by those objecting to the formation of a new identity in a given polity.

     25. After all, the new identity is partly conceived in order to alter the existing order.