I think there's probably some utility in separating out Nation (the product of Nationbuilding) from the concept of the State (the organizational form).

I think having them combined leads to a lot of red herrings that make fighting either of them harder, and also makes it very hard to see that, say, a lot of corporations' external power structures resemble states, but lack the markers of 'Nation' that a lot of people would say are required to describe a State.

Nationbuilding is about aligning disparate groups into a majority-consensus, or at least, the illusion of that, with a force spectrum going from extreme violence to melting-pot assimilation (coerced or no) to many groups in concert but holding onto their traditions to etc. the national myths, the borders, the wars. etc

as juxtaposed with State-the-structure, the various organizational structures and branches and how different pieces relate.

but having them as the same concept imo really muddies the waters.

When reading history it's important to keep this separation in mind, too.

I've only actively been thinking about this for about half an hour, but it's growing on me.