My country, 'Tis Of Thee

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My country, 'Tis Of Thee

Philip S Golub
Le Monde diplomatique
July 2005

Nationalism has some of the functions of religion. Its "magic is to turn chance into destiny" (1). The link between US nationalism and religion has always been apparent in the teleological character of US political discourse, notably the ever-present notion of a providential Manifest Destiny. Today, nationalist and religious discourses have been explicitly fused.

In a little noticed article published in 1999 Samuel Huntington, best known for his "clash of civilisations" thesis, made an appeal for a "robust nationalism that would unite most conservatives, distinguish conservative foreign policy sharply from its liberal alternatives, and have great appeal to the bulk of the American people" (2).

His programme, designed to ward off the threat of internal disintegration, is articulated around a mystical union of God, the nation and the armed forces. This is, in his view, the trinity that founds and gives meaning to the "conservative credo". It is the antithesis of liberalism and cosmopolitanism, including of the transnationalised business elites, which reject some if not all of the three.

God: "Conservatism is rooted in religion; liberalism is not. Obviously some liberals are religious, but more often they are secular, atheistic or agnostic. A few conservatives, following Hume, may share these views. Yet, while conservatives may or may not actively practise religion or be members of a church, it is difficult to be conservative without being religious. By and large conservatives believe in God, and since Americans are overwhelmingly a Christian people with a small but important Jewish minority, the God of American conservatism is the God of the Old and New Testaments.
In contemporary America religious commitment and conservatism march arm in arm in battle against secularism, relativism and liberalism."

The nation: "Given the nature of the world, conservatives rank devotion to country along with devotion to God. Patriotism is a - perhaps the - prime conservative virtue. Conservatives give their highest loyalty to their country, its values, culture and institutions. Unlike most liberals, they see international institutions not as good in themselves but good only insofar as they contribute to furthering the wellbeing of the American nation. Non-conservatives tend to degrade national identity either in favour of ethnic, racial, gender or other sub-national identities, or in favour of identity
with supranational institutions and ideals . . . liberals tend to question the legitimacy of the nation-state . . . [they] look forward, as Strobe Talbott once said, to a time when nationhood as we know it will be obsolete; [and] all states will recognise a single global authority'. In a similar vein Richard Sennett denounces the evil of a shared national identity'."

"Anti-national sentiments," Huntington affirms, "are not restricted to liberal academics: they also exist in the business elites." Citing approvingly a letter sent by Ralph Nader to business executives enjoining them to show their support "for the country that bred them, built them, subsidised them and defended them" by reciting the pledge of allegiance at annual stockholder meetings, Huntington angrily notes that only one major company reacted favourably.

War: "Conservatism views conflict and even violent conflict as an inherent aspect of the human condition. Real conflicts of interest exist among groups and societies. These are not the result of misunderstanding, faulty communications or shortsightedness, but are rooted in the human condition, self-interest, and the struggle for wealth, security and power. While mutual gains are possible, in almost every relationship there are winners and losers, or at least those who win or lose more and those who win or lose less . . . Liberals tend to believe that the end of whatever is the current major
conflict means the end of all conflict, hence the indulgence in euphoria in 1918, 1945 and 1989. Conservatives know that the end of one conflict creates the basis for another one. They agree with Robin Fox that wars are not a disease to be cured, but part of the normal human condition'. They stem from what we are, not from some contingencies of what we do from time to time (history). They are, like religion and prostitution, basic responses to basic human fears and hopes."

Why did Huntington feel the need for this new national communion?

"American wealth and power are at their peak. The national unity, economic equity and cultural integrity of America are not. In the broadest sense American national identity is under challenge from a multiculturalism that subverts it from below and a cosmopolitanism that erodes it from above. Patriotism is passed among large sectors of American elites. Conceivably, in the future serious external threats to America could arise from China, Russia, Islam or some combination of hostile states. At present, however, the principal threats to American unity, culture and power are closer to home. The appropriate response of both classic conservatives and neoconservatives is to come together in support of a robust nationalism."

They have, with disastrous consequences.


Philip S Golub is a lecturer in international relations at the University of Paris VIII and the Institut d'études politiques, Paris

Notes

(1) Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, Verso, London, 1993.

(2) Samuel Huntington, "Robust Nationalism", The National Interest, Washington DC, 1999.

Original text in English

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