America Right or Wrong by Anatol Lieven

Thèmes abordés

USA - Etats-Unis - Amérique - Nationalisme - Georges Bush - Bush - Irak - Impérialisme - American Creed - Messianisme

Résumé du document

Analyse de l'oeuvre polémique d'Anatol Lieven, America Right or Wrong.
Il s'agit d'en tirer la problématique, qui consiste à accuser les différents nationalismes comme étant la cause de la fin de l'hégémonie Américaine.
L'auteur oppose le nationalisme civic ou "AMERICAN CREED" à l'impérialisme et au néoconservatisme de Georges W. Bush.

Extraits

[...] By the way, this was the case after the events of 9/11 with the paranoia against Islam. Towards the end of the American Hegemony? The main argument of the author is that Imperialism could imperil the nation's global leadership and its success in the struggle against terrorism. It has already generated hatred of the USA in the Middle East, identified as being the new Soviet Hegemon. This could lead to a state of siege, which could restrict civil liberties and alienate the American Creed. III. [...]

[...] The American antithesis: towards a radicalisation of nationalism The second one is the American Antithesis, which is the name the author gives to radical nationalism. He is really critical in his description about it: “Radical nationalism has many fathers, but its mother is called defeat and her milk is called humiliation”. (p.88) Then, what feeds radical nationalism is humiliation, like in 9/11 events which led to the Iraq War. The American Antithesis is consequently characterised by a belief in a glorious future and a strong desire to go back to an idealized past, which would be the Eisenhower years. [...]

[...] The danger of taking such a position is that his work could be considered as biased. However, the number of sources dismantles this idea, or at least, reflects the importance he took to the analysis of this period. The absence of real emphasis on Iraq The real weakness of his work stands in the absence of analysis about the Iraq War, even if announced in the introduction. This could be due to the context in which the book has been written, since it was done during this war. [...]

[...] The author's problematic: souls of nationalisms” (page The author's problematic mainly relies on one big principle: the distinction between Souls of Nationalisms” (p.4) The American Thesis: a positive motivation for democracy The first one is the American civic nationalism. It is based on American Creed”, which means that its principles are rational and universal. It advocates the “Faith in liberty, constitutionalism, the law, democracy, individualism and cultural and political egalitarianism” (p.49). Its roots stand in the European tradition, and more precisely in England and in the French revolution. [...]

[...] This would ends up in the end of the American hegemony and to a growth of the terrorist threats. The originality of his work stands in the approach of foreign politics based on a difference of nationalisms and in a clear critic of neo- conservatism. In its analysis of the future, Anatol Lieven seems to be quite right: the influence of the USA is clearly in decline now, and that is clearly visible in the events happening in the Middle East today. [...]