Who are We?: The Challenges to America's National Identity

Samuel P. Huntington, Steve Dunn

Simon and Schuster, 2004 - History - 428 pages

In his seminal work The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel Huntington argued provocatively and presciently that with the end of the cold war, "civilizations" were replacing ideologies as the new fault lines in international politics.

His astute analysis has proven correct. Now Professor Huntington turns his attention from international affairs to our domestic cultural rifts as he examines the impact other civilizations and their values are having on our own country.

America 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. The waves of immigrants that later came to the United States 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 primarily Hispanic immigrants, bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American elites.

September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism and a renewal of American identity. But already there are signs that this revival is fading, even though in the post-September 11 world, Americans face unprecedented challenges to our security.

Who Are We? shows the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans. Nothing less than our national identity is at stake.

Once again Samuel Huntington has written an important book that is certain to provoke a lively debate and to shape our national conversation about who we are.\

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WHO ARE WE?: The Challenges to America's National Identity

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Scholarly analysis of the American national identity as it has evolved over the centuries, the challenges it now faces, and the choices that lie ahead.Huntington (History/Harvard; The Clash of ...

Who are we?: the challenges to America's national identity

User Review  - Not Available - Book Verdict

In his seminal The Clash of Civilizations, Huntington anticipated the United States' battle with militant Islam. Here he turns his laser on America-or, rather, America as he thinks it ought to be ...

Contents

• The Crisis of National Identity: 3
• National and Other: 21
• Components of American Identity: 37
• AngloProtestant Culture: 59
• Religion and Christianity: 81
• Emergence Triumph Erosion: 107
• Converts: 178
• Mexican Immigration and Hispanization: 221
• Merging America with the World: 257
• Fault Lines Old and New: 295
• Notes: 367
• Index: 411

About the author

STEVE DUNN has a special interest in the Royal Navy of the late Victorian, Edwardian and First World War eras. His books include biographies of Admirals Cradock (The Scapegoat) and Troubridge (The Coward?) and the story of the first British battleship, Formidable, to be sunk by a torpedo. He lives in Worcestershire and southwest France.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Who are We?: The Challenges to America's National Identity
• Authors: Samuel P. Huntington, Steve Dunn
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2004
• ISBN: 0684870533, 9780684870533
• Length: 428 pages
• Subjects: History / General; History / United States / 20th Century; History / United States / General; History / Wars & Conflicts / World War I; Political Science / General; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / General