Constitutional Patriotism in Obama's Anti-Terror Speeches (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,7, University of Kent, language: English, abstract: What is Constitutional Patriotism? How is it used in his three speeches to gather the spirits of the Americans? How does the notion of nation state differ between the EU and the United States?

According to Ernest Gellner "It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round." Surely most nations were formed on a nationalistic idea, but with nationalism follows patriotism and a sense of proselytisation. First of all what is a nation and why is it of relevance for today's international system?

A nation defines itself through its territory, its culture and its political community which is represented and run by a sovereign organized government. The unite state acts motivated by self interests. States are the most common structure of state organisation in the international system. They enjoy independence and legitimacy. Nation states are of extraordinary relevance for the field of international relations because they are more robust once they are established based on a distinct nationality. Moreover, it is the only structure in which "the growth of democracy is possible and which does not have a tendency to expand its territory." This strong and steady status of nations turned out to be crucial for the development of "modern financial, industrial and technological civilization in Western Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries."

It was only in the 16th and 17th century that the people of a state obtained the right to choose their representatives, before that they were "subjects" to the ruler of the state. "States ruled in that way had seven different forms, personal rule, theocracy, city state, oligarchy, military state, tribal state, and empire."