American Nationalism And American National Security Concept

Nationalism suffers from confusion both over the meaning of the term and over its role in the modern world and especially in America.In fact,American nationalism is an important factor that cannot be neglected in shaping American national security concept.This dissertation aims at exploring the origin and the development of American nationalism,studying on its conception and characteristics and explaining its influences on American national security concept.On the one hand,the founders of the United States institutionalized a civic nationalism based on legal and rational concepts,rather than ethnic nationalism.On the other hand,American nationalism originated from the Puritan tradition,and was colored with strong religious factors.As a result,American nationalism shaped and changed American foreign relations on three aspects:First,American nationalism defined and safeguarded national interests and national security and colored them with pragmatism and utilitarianism.Second,the American nationalism influenced the views of the U.S.to the outside world greatly and even determined its foreign communication means and ways.Third,the American nationalism provided the motivation and basis for its expansion in the world.Finally,it is believed that American nationalism especially its particularity brings about the combination between realism and idealism,and between isolationism and internationalism.Moreover,American nationalism results in the transition and link between unilateralism and multilateralism.Before WWI,the U.S.was unwilling to join the war or make enemies.During WWII,it was forced to make enemies.Then till the cold war,it took the initiative to make enemies and opened the long peace.After 9 · 11,it began to produce enemies and levied war upon Iraq and Afghanistan.During this process,American nationalism also experienced different statuses from hesitated to moderate,and from inflated to radical.From the perspective of nationalism,we can found that enemies as extreme forms of "the other" were necessary to U.S.in some degree.The war on terror as a historical lesson told American nationalism to make a balance between shaping identities and making enemies.In the construction of the world order in the future,American nationalism''s demand for "the other" would never disappear,but under the influence of pragmatism and utilitarianism,it will continue to update unceasingly and adapt to the trend of history.