America Right Or Wrong: An Anatomy Of American Nationalism

Rating:
Summary: An Exceptional Book for Americans to Consider
Review: Anatol Lieven has written an exceptional book that should be read by anyone concerned with the direction this country is going in, and more importantly, why it is going in such a radically conservative one.

Lieven focuses his book on the American Thesis and Antithesis. The American Thesis, also called the American Creed, is the quasi-religious belief in democracy, freedom and individuality, and the universality of those beliefs. In other words, America is a special country, the shining "City on the Hill," and the "New Israel." And anyone who wants to come to this country, works hard, and strives to succeed will almost certainly be able to.

The Antithesis is just that, the opposite of the American Creed. The Antithesis is the irrational fear of others, paranoia, and overt aggression and violence that grip many Americans when they are under attack, real or perceived. This view is often viewed through the lense of an idealized, often mythic, American past, before foreigners were allowed to come into the country and pollute its land. Whether it was Irish Catholics 100 years ago or Muslim American today, the paranoid fear of others could have ugly manifestations.

The one weakness of this book, in his discussion of Israel's place in America, Lieven spends too much time discussing the details of the Israel/Palestine conflict. While valuable, it does not fit with the flow of the rest of the book.

This book should be read by all who are curious about American nationalism and its relation to the rest of the world. This is an important book, and should be widely read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, describes historical background well
Review: I really liked this book a lot. Of course, I am not a nationalist and am just trying to learn to survive in a US dominated by nationalists. If you're a nationalist or a Zionist, you probably wouldn't like it.

I have read some other books on this topic, but I think Lieven writes with more clarity. The only thing I didn't like about my copy was that it was finished before the 2004 elections, so that the author didn't know Bush was going to be reelected. (He expresses skepticism, in any case, that Democratic policies on Israel would be much different.)

Unfortunately I have marked my copy up so much that I can't sell it to you. I plan to reread parts of it later anyway.

Rating:
Summary: The shadow side of American nationalism
Review: Nationalism was always a volative mixture, witness its history, yet the American variety was granted the good fortune of benign realizations in a civic creed that might show an example to the world in a mood of universalism. Yet as the author of this cogent diagnosis of current ills notes there is a shadow side to the American brand, and this has been evoked into the open by the precipitous and unthinking actions of the new century. And the result has been the opposite of what was intended as the squandered reputation of a flagship democracy is denounced almost universally for its imperialism. This acute diagnostic history also broaches the soured relationship of this to the American-Israeli nexus where the tone of ethnic nationalism doubly braided in both has soured altogether the prospect of America's world leadership. In the tradition of French commentators since Tocqueville, Lieven proceeds with tact to try to wake the situation up, and the result is better than the usual op-ed fare. A wake-up call.
Cf. NY Review of Books revoew, Feb 2005

Rating:
Summary: An oustanding overview, particularly for non-Americans
Review: This is one of the best non-academic treatments of American history, culture, and foreign policy I have ever read. I can't recommend this book enough. Lieven does a great job interweaving American history, politics, and culture and its relationship to globalization and international relations. There is no better book for understanding America's current "anatomy" than this one.

Lieven's perspective is critical, although not overly so. (in other words, "liberal" by American standards, "centrist" by non-US standards) For those around the world looking to understand what seems to many "outsiders" an inexplicable "right turn" in the trajectory of the American nation, this is the place to start.