global_government
22.01.05, 00:17
A lavish presidential inauguration ended January 20 in Washington, DC, at a
reported cost of 50 million US dollars. Another feature of the celebration is
its war-time atmosphere and tight security. Themed "A celebration for
liberty, A salute to the troops", the inauguration focuses on military
celebrations and events like "general commander's dance". A congressman once
commented it as "a military show rather than a celebration", since security
is at wartime standards with 6,000 army policemen at work.
No banquet under the sun will last forever. After the firework fades away
Washington is still under a dark sky. The sole superpower sends a sense of
inauspiciousness to the world when it's president is inaugurated under
wartime security standards: America, where is you heading for?
Anatol Lieven, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, DC
recently wrote a book entitled "America: Right or Wrong? ¨CAn Anatomy of
American Nationalism". "America keeps a fine house," he observed, "but in its
cellar there lives a demon, whose name is nationalism."
American nationalism displays the following characters. First, it is
originated from the worship to "The American Creed", with liberty, democracy
and the rule of law lying at its core. The Creed takes form along with the
shaping and developing of the country, but has been taken by many Americans
as a truth or standard that "fits all". From a religious perspective, many
Americans indulge themselves in a sense of superiority, believing
themselves "men chosen by God".
Second, due to the nation's superior natural and geographical conditions, and
its history of never being invaded, American nationalism is void of
historical bitterness found in typical nationalism of some other peoples.
Third, American nationalism shows a strong inclination of being self-
centered, a combination of an isolationism tendency (being distain to
associate with other peoples) and a sense of mission to save "the fettered
world" by whatever means it desires. American nationalism rejects nationalism
in other peoples, which doesn't, or unwilling to learn other people's
emotions and thoughts, but adoptes American standards in all cases.
Fourth, in foreign policy, American nationalism takes a form of a mixture of
morality and pragmatism. Sometimes America holds ideology as the benchmark,
deciding a friend or foe by American values, beliefs and political
considerations; sometimes it exercises double standards for the sake of
national interest, showing a certain degree of moral hypocrisy.
In recent years American nationalism has been gathering trend. In the country
some people call for the fourth American Revolution to build a new America
under the banner of nationalism; some claim that the victory of American
nationalism is of global implication, for which America must assume
responsibility as leader of a free world. Judging from Bush's inauguration
theme in 2005, being morally conceited and militarily aggressive are two
major elements of American nationalism.
Lieven believes that American nationalism could hurt the country itself as
well as the world in the deepest way by killing the most rational diplomacy
and causing instability to the international community. As another researcher
from the Carnegie Endowment put it, liberty as the core of American values
will finally become a obstacle to imperialist diplomacy. Or, in the other
way, American nationalism and imperialist tendency are likely to shake or
even ruin the country's central value of liberty.
This article by Huang Qing is carried on the third page of the People's
Daily, Juanry 20, and translated by People's Daily Online