This paper reviews Minxin Pei’s article The Paradoxes of American Nationalism and discusses the two paradoxes Pei has identified regarding American nationalism.
Nationalism in the United States is somewhat a blurred idea in the political arena. In the article The Paradoxes of American Nationalism Minxin Pei identifies two paradoxes of American nationalism at a general level and at the policymaking level. First, the United States is a highly nationalistic country but it is not regarded as nationalistic. Second, on a similar count policymakers in the United States have a very poor appreciation of the power of nationalism.