Patriotism, nationalism, loyalty, allegiance: all words with positive connotations. To support one’s country is to be a good citizen, and to do otherwise is to be unthankful and petulant. Americans either believe America is the greatest country on Earth, or they don’t—but which group is correct? Until recently it was less common for people to…
As the Cold War wound down over twenty years ago, it became fashionable among some intellectual circles in the West to suggest that the ideological struggles of the 20th century were about to culminate in the irrevocable triumph of liberal democracy. That century began under the yoke of expansive European colonial empires, experienced unprecedented devastation…