Media plays a fundamental role in the formation of national identity, most famously detailed in Benedict Anderson’s theory of the imagined community. In the Arab world, a media revolution is contributing to the emergence of a reawakened regional Arab consciousness. A comparison of data from the first major regional survey of Arab journalists and the results of various public opinion polls in the region indicate that Arab journalists stand on the borderlands of Arab identity, shaping an emerging “imagined” watan [nation] that, in some ways, transcends the traditional lines in the sand that define the nation-state.

The revolutions of the Arab Spring, in contrast to the liberal third wave of the 1970s to 1990s, rest on a more popular and traditionalist base. Critics often depict these currents as insular and even xenophobic in outlook. This article engages the literature on democratisation, framing, and social movement globalisation, and challenges that assumption. It draws on in-depth interviews conducted with Islamists and other activists in Cairo during April and May 2012. It argues that the pressures of globalisation and the opportunities of democratic transition are forcing traditionalists on to more cosmopolitan terrain. These cosmopolitan traditionalist activists draw on inspiration from other parts of the world and express solidarity with revolutionary movements elsewhere. Unlike liberal cosmopolitans, however, they ground their mode of tolerance and cooperation on substantive traditional values. While the pressures of globalisation may limit the ability of post-revolutionary regimes to deliver on social aspirations, this shift of ideological framing may pave the way for new traditionalist networks that cut across borders. As global political opportunity structures emerge and frustrations build up within nation-states, this cosmopolitan traditionalist bloc is likely to have the numbers and influence to reshape world order.