On Our Own: American Identity and the New Crisis of Independence

In this analysis, I use government documents, presidential statements, and opinion polls to chart how american goals of independence moved in and out of different contexts, and the ways this movement reflected structural as well as domestic conditions. Part one takes a broad look at manifestations of the ideal prior to the end of the Cold War, focusing primarily on the founding of the nation and the twenty years following the end of World War II. In this period of history, independence refers primarily (but spasmodically) to a political status, and becomes increasingly abstract. Part two brings this kind of analysis to bear on the world from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present. The two Bush administrations and the Clinton administration have dealt with this abstract independence as an economic status, as well as a basis for political intervention. As this era continues to unfold, the crisis of independence helps to explain current tensions between fostering "international independence" and securing american "energy independence."