Watch the short New York Times video on national identity. Provide a three-paragraph reflection and analysis of any part of the the video’s argument. “Analysis” could be whether you agree with it, providing more evidence to support your position, or it could mean what the video’s argument means more broadly for international politics, or any discussion that involves critical thinking. This is a rather open assignment.
At the Democratic Convention, Pete Buttigieg made the point that: US soldiers risk their lives for the United States “not because it’s the country you live in, but because it’s a country you believe in.” That we are a people created by certain ideas rather than the traditional stuff of people-making — land, language, blood — is at the root of our current predicament: What happens when some of us simply stop believing? Who gets to lay claim to the United States then?
