Writing
1. How can the historical legacies of the United States and Russia (China, Islamic nations, etc.)
produce discord and conflict? What is a contemporary example?
2. How can a government use a nation’s historical legacy to generate popular support among the
general population?
3. How does national history play a role in shaping national identity? What is an example for the
United States?
4. During a state visit to China in 2010, the United Kingdom’s prime minister and his party were
asked to remove the poppy flowers they were wearing to honor U.K. war dead, a national tradition observed every November 11. The Chinese indicated that the poppies might remind the Chinese of the Opium Wars of the mid-1800s, in which British forces defeated the Chinese. In your opinion, should the British representatives have worn the poppies? Why?
