Essay Outline What relationship exists between national identity and the national interest and what conclusions

can be deduced from this relationship? 1) What constitutes a national identity? -- The National Identity is a sense of belonging to a nation and associating oneself with it (i.e. I am an American). The national Identity is all about contrast and is strengthened by outside threat especially in times of national crises (us v. them) Citizens by birth or by choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism George Washington, Farewell Address

-Categories that must be considered when defining national identity -- Ethnicity, religion, language, history, national symbols, and culture -Elements that must be in these categories -- Diversity is always going to be present, but there must be some degree of unification or at least a core of shared tenants. -Elements directly related to US America is unique among nations because it is not founded on a common ethnicity, but on a set of ideas. Bradley Project In the United States, national identity is not genetically inherited, but must instead be learned. -Shared patriotism and dedication to the principles of self-governance/democracy The United States defined itself as a nation by commitment to the principles of liberty, equality, and government on the basis of consent, and the nationality of its people derived from their identification with those principles. - Philip Gleason -Changes since the founding (major) The nation is facing existential identity crises America faces an identity crisis. The next generation of Americans will know less than their parents know about our history and founding ideals. And many Americans are more aware of what divides us than of what unites us. We are in danger of becoming not from many, oneE

Pluribus Unumbut its opposite, from one, many. Bradley Project on Americas National Identit America is a capitalist nation, an English-speaking nation, a democratic nation, a compassionate nation, a law-abiding nation, a rich nation. We are not any of those things without notable exceptions, but we are, in general, all of those things. - Richard John Neuhaus 2) What constitutes the national interest? A countrys national goals and ambitions (economic, military, or cultural) The basis for realist international relations and foreign affairs as well as domestic policy. One may be called isolationism pure and simple, that is to say, not only a retreat from intervention in the affairs of other continents, but a retreat from an active foreign policy altogether. The other manifestation may be called isolationism turned inside out. It is unlimited, world-embracing interventionism. - Hans J. Morgenthau (What Is the National Interest of the United States?) -What are the necessary categories that must be considered when defining the national interest? Unity in the three categories: economic, military, and cultural -What are the categories and/or elements as they relate to the United States? Patriotism, imperialism, maintaining standing (staving off the long defeat) The ultimate goal of our national interest is preserving the integrity of the American experiment -What constitutes past/present/future interests? --What has changed? The world is no longer unipolar and has no need for Team America World Police As a multipolar system emerges, the appropriate replacement for a global sheriff is community policing Samuel Huntington (The Lonely Superpower)

--How does the United States promote a given interest and/or prepare/respond to an agreed upon threat ? Unilaterally (see Libya and Iraq) drawing condemnation from the international community.

We are a nation driven by passions and not inclined to think things over before acting. -Finally, what conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of identity and interest? -Is Huntington correct in his assertion that interest derives from identity and does it apply to the United States? Yes: Our national interests and therefore our foreign policy stem directly from our national identity. --We feel that our system of government is superior to all others ---basis for the Cold War, Red Scare, McCarthyism, etc. ---OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM and other attempts to export democracy unipolarity, managed benignly, is far more likely to keep the peace. When compared to multipolarity Krauthammer (The Unipolar Moment Revisited) - What does this mean and/or what conclusions can be deduced? -Our muddled foreign policy is the result of a national identity crises. If we are to clear up our identity we could exercise a more concise and effective program of foreign policy and reinforce international relations. -A cohesive national identity is required to craft a clear and concise foreign policy utilized to pursue national interest. The United States finds itself in a world for which little in its historical experience has prepared it. Secure between two great oceans, it rejected the concept of the balance of power, convinced that it was either able to stand apart from the quarrels of other nations or that it could bring about universal peace by insisting on the implementation of its own values of democracy and selfdetermination. Henry Kissinger (Does America Need a foreign policy)