America was founded by settlers who brought with them a distinct culture including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of later immigrants came gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of immigrants, bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American élites. September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism, but already there are signs that this is fading. This book shows the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans.--From publisher description.

In his new book, the author of THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS turns his attention from international cultural divides to the cultural rifts in America. The patriotic response to the events of September 11 only highlighted the loss of American identity at home, says Huntington, and already patriotic fervour has begun to subside. The United States was founded by British settlers who brought with them a distinct culture including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment and respect for law. Waves of immigrants later came to America, but they gradually accepted these values and assimilated into the Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of primarily Hispanic immigrants; bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship and the 'denationalisation' of American elites. To counterpoint this, Huntington draws attention to the beginnings of a revival of American identity in a post-September 11 world where countries face unprecedented challenges to national security. WHO ARE WE? is an important work of political, historical and cultural inquiry that, like Huntington's previous book, is certain to spark a lively debate.

Blockade is the story of a long-running trade battle at sea between Britain and Germany during the First World War. Each country fought for survival, but this book focuses on the story of the Northern Patrol and the 10th Cruiser Squadron. The Royal Navy’s role during World War I denying Germany access to the sea, trade, and vital resources was crucial to helping Britain win the war on the Western Front. The ‘Northern Blockade’, located across the inhospitable waters between Iceland and Scotland, was to bring the German economy to its knees and destroy her home front morale. Likewise, the Royal Navy’s success in negating Germany’s attacks on British commerce prevented much suffering in Britain. Steve Dunn vividly describes the final destruction of German surface vessel commerce warfare. He examines the American reaction to the British naval blockade and to Germany’s war on trade as well as Germany’s treatment of American sailors taken prisoner. Dunn also considers changes in strategy employed by both sides. Blockade brings to life the experiences of those who manned the blockade and creates a vivid picture of the dangers of duty in this highly significant, but overlooked aspect of World War I.

Why is national identity such a potent force in people's lives? And is the force positive or negative? In this thoughtful and provocative book, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse develops a social theory of national identity and uses a national survey, focus groups, and experiments to answer these important questions in the American context. Her results show that the combination of group commitment and the setting of exclusive boundaries on the national group affects how people behave toward their fellow Americans. Strong identifiers care a great deal about their national group. They want to help and to be loyal to their fellow Americans. By limiting who counts as an American, though, these strong identifiers place serious limits on who benefits from their pro-group behavior. Help and loyalty are offered only to 'true Americans,' not Americans who do not count and who are pushed to the periphery of the national group.

This Violent Empire traces the origins of American violence, racism, and paranoia to the founding moments of the new nation and the initial instability of Americans' national sense of self. Fusing cultural and political analyses to create a new form of political history, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg explores the ways the founding generation, lacking a common history, governmental infrastructures, and shared culture, solidified their national sense of self by imagining a series of "Others" (African Americans, Native Americans, women, the propertyless) whose differences from European American male founders overshadowed the differences that divided those founders. These "Others," dangerous and polluting, had to be excluded from the European American body politic. Feared, but also desired, they refused to be marginalized, incurring increasingly enraged enactments of their political and social exclusion that shaped our long history of racism, xenophobia, and sexism. Close readings of political rhetoric during the Constitutional debates reveal the genesis of this long history.

Our national identity is defined by what it means to be an American and whom we include and why when we talk about “the American people.” A country’s national identity is fluid, and Ian Reifowitz argues that President Barack Obama, by emphasizing the ideals Americans hold dear, hopes to redefine ours in a fundamental way. Obama’s conception of America emphasizes two principles of national unity: First, all Americans, regardless of their heritage and cultural traditions, should identify with America as their country, based upon shared democratic values, a shared history, and a shared fate. Second, America should embrace all its citizens as active participants in one “family.” Reifowitz explores Obama’s belief that strengthening our common bonds will encourage Americans to rectify the injustices and heal the racial divisions that still plague our country. We have the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that a society of many races and cultures can truly become one people. In facing terrorism, violent fundamentalism, and other security issues, Obama’s response centers on a powerful, inspiring, and truly inclusive American narrative. By bolstering America’s identity as diverse yet unified, he aims both to counter the anxieties and fears that radicalism stokes and give proponents of religious and political freedom a model they can defend. The stakes couldn’t be any higher in determining America’s future.

The civil rights movement and immigration reform transformed American politics in the mid-1960s. Demographic diversity and identity politics raised the challenge of e pluribus unum anew, and multiculturalism emerged as a new ideological response to this dilemma. This book uses national public opinion data and public opinion data from Los Angeles to compare ethnic differences in patriotism and ethnic identity and ethnic differences in support for multicultural norms and group-conscious policies. The authors find evidence of strong patriotism among all groups and the classic pattern of assimilation among the new wave of immigrants. They argue that there is a consensus in rejecting harder forms of multiculturalism that insist on group rights but also a widespread acceptance of softer forms that are tolerant of cultural differences and do not challenge norms, such as by insisting on the primacy of English.