American Exceptionalism: Definition

American Exceptionalism is the idea that the U.S. is unique and no other country is more powerful. It is a belief that the U.S. is a unique and morally superior nation due to its ideological, religious, or historical reasons. Advocates of American exceptionalism pair with the belief that the U.S. has to always play a special role in global politics (Encyclopædia Britannica,n.d)

American Exceptionalism: Historical Background

 

The history behind American Exceptionalism goes way back to the Civil War, World War II, and the modern era. A crisis in the nation’s identity is shown in the increase of populism and nationalist rhetoric, which has caused protests and international concern, as people’s goal is a more inclusive and democratic future. To add on, there was a division over slavery, which goes back to European colonial exploitation and was remarkably important economically to the South, and was exposed during the Civil War. Moreover, emancipation did not improve America’s moral perspective. It rather made it seem as a negative exceptionalism and consistent anger, which made the political and cultural tensions worse. However, during World War II, America’s involvement resulted in a more confident explanation of exceptionalism. America’s image after the war grew worldwide, especially in organizations. For example, NATO and the UN strengthen a feeling of global responsibility.  (Mack, 2017)

How we see it today:

 

Nowadays, American Exceptionalism is shifting for many reasons. According to McCurry, the reasons are Changes in the Economy, Political Polarization, Social Inequality, and Global Perception. 

 

  • Changes in the Economy: America’s economic dominance has been threatened by the rise of other nations’ growth, especially China. This shift goes past statistics like GDP data to include international trade’s leadership and technology impact on the dynamics
  • Political Polarization: Within the U.S., a division has been building up over the years. It is changing it to be more ideologically divided, which makes it hard to work across political parties
  • Social Inequality: The U.S. faces income inequalities despite its resources. The ideology that America is seen as a place with equal opportunity is now under threat
  • Global Perception: Lastly, there has been an alteration in how the world sees American Leadership. America’s ability to portray exceptionalism has been made more difficult as it keeps declining.

 

Why is this a problem with other countries? 

The problem and the impact that American Exceptionalism has on foreign countries is how different American values increase the anti-American sentiment around the globe. American exceptionalism has been categorized in three ways

Misunderstood Exceptionalism:  the characteristics that are looked at without credible evidence

Conditional Exceptionalism: Different yet adjustable traits impacted by events and leadership that are currently in place

Problematic Exceptionalism: Deep-rooted perspectives that cause important, determined separation on remarkable issues

While other nations have their unique characteristics, America’s dominance strengthens the impact of its exceptionalism, which leads other countries to resent it. (Kohut & Stokes, 2006)

 

Click below to see the Lack of Foreign News and how it is seen today