Commentary
Perhaps it was only a matter of time, once the Soviet Union collapsed, for American patriotism to wither and recede. With no superpower to oppose it, with the world now open for full Americanization, borders were unnecessary and nationalism was obsolete. Let the globalization begin and old loyalties end!
It seemed so rosy and benign at the start. In 1993 the world was getting more democratic and capitalist by the month. The End of History was at hand. What thinkers meant by the declaration was that the ideological challenges to social democracy (free markets + individual rights + a generous safety net for those left behind) were no more. China was no threat; it would join the league of nations as a willing trade partner and shed its communist trappings. Russia would modernize, and people in the Eastern Bloc would wear Levis and eat McDonald’s and listen to Springstein—a libertarian utopia….