Recently the Oxford Union debated the motion “”this House regrets the Founding of America.” Matt Frei says he is happy to report that the resolution was “overwhelmingly squashed.” His article is not a blind defense of the U.S., but it is interesting in its balance and humor even. Here are some excerpts:
The US is a nation built not on ethnicity, not on religion, not even on history but on an idea.
Not only does this make America different, I would argue it also makes it ideally suited for the 21st Century. We live in a globalised world in which national boundaries are less and less relevant and the citizenship of ideas is more and more defining.
Al-Qaeda also strives for a world without borders, a trans-national entity based on ideas, which a majority of Muslims find as unpalatable as we do. So, ask yourself and be honest: where would you rather live – the Caliphate or California?
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The reality of America may be vexing, frustrating, infuriating and puzzling but its promise is no less real and, given the right voice, should be no less inspiring.
Guantanamo Bay, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and yes, so many aspects of the war in Iraq, were big mistakes. But these are aspects of current foreign policy, not part of the nation’s DNA. They are lamented as much inside the US as outside. And that too speaks for America!