In Chapter 10 of his book “Who Are We,” Huntington discusses American identity in regards to the international environment. He begins by reporting on the change in the international environment with the end of the cold war, the extensive international involvement US elites abroad lowering the salience of national identity amongst those elites, and the increase of culture as a source of identity (as opposed to ideology).
Huntington discusses the loss of the Soviet Union as our great enemy not being particularly helpful to national identity and argues that enemies are an effective ‘identity builder’ for a group. He also highlights the broad disconnect between the beliefs of the cosmopolitan elites and the nationalistic public. This increasing divide leads to evermore disjointed policy preferences because the elites fill the foreign policy administrative arm and sit atop the most powerful interest groups.
What I found most interesting was his discussion of the political influence of foreign groups who are connected to their home countries. Connection to homelands like chain migration, remittances, and maintaining communication with friends and relatives are all regular elements of immigration in an increasingly connected international environment. Attempting to politically influence policy in a foreign country to benefit your home country is an entirely different caliber of behavior. In the beginning of this book, Huntington cites that many of the founding fathers were in favor of restricting immigration because of the ideologies they would bring and the impact it would have on democracy, and I think that they would consider immigrants attempting to change our government’s policy to help their home country as direct evidence of immigration’s harm. The government is supposed to work for its citizens, and the prospect of foreign nationals swaying our policy potentially against our interests and towards their own seems to be anti-American.