How “American” is Barack Obama? The Role of National Identity in a Historic Bid for the White House

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 214-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Devos ◽  
Debbie S. Ma
Ad Americam ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 101-124
Author(s):  
Julien Zarifian

Why did President Obama Not Recognize the Armenian Genocide? Hints from the Obama Administration Memoirs – and Other Sources This paper discusses the reasons and processes that led the Obama administration to notrecognize the Armenian Genocide. Although Barack Obama had promised he would doso during his presidential campaign of 2008, he never did once in office, despite many of his administration members, including Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, having strong records in support of such a recognition. To investigate this hitherto poorly explored question, this paper uses primarily — although not exclusively — memoirs written by Barack Obama and members his administration, some of them addressing the issue directly, others dealing with it indirectly. This study focuses on President Obama’s personal choice, and therefore responsibility, to not recognize the genocide, but also expands on the geopolitical determinants of this non-recognition (related mostly to the geostrategic importance of Turkey) as well as on its diplomatic aspects (involving particularly the argument that US recognition would hamper a hypothetical Turkey-Armenia rapprochement). Two episodes of possible presidential recognition of the genocide will be particularly discussed; one in April 2009 (three months after Obama became president of the United States and coinciding with April 24, the anniversary of the genocide), and the other in 2015 (corresponding to its centenary). Finally, stress will be placed on the positions and role of the president’s entourage at the White House, and on his State and Defense Secretaries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 209-218
Author(s):  
Lev E. Shaposhnikov

The paper analyses the evolution of Yu. Samarin’s ideas from rationalism to “holistic knowledge”. Special attention is paid to the philosopher’s conceptualization of the key role of religion for a nation. The author also examines the scholar’s position concerning the promotion of patriotism as an important impetus for social development. Emphasis is made on analyzing the interaction of universal and national aspects in the educational process, as well as on the value of national identity in the field of humanities. The article also presents Yu. Samarin’s critical evaluation of the government educational policy and his suggestions on increasing its effectiveness. The author notes the relevance of Yu. Samarin’s views for the contemporary philosophical and educational context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-162
Author(s):  
Atiya Mahmud Hana

  This study aims to observe and describe the use of speech acts by Barack Obama when he announced the death of Osama bin Laden. The writer focuses on illocutionary acts used by Barack Obama. The primary data source is the transcript of Barack Obama’s speech at White House on May 1st, 2011 after the death of Osama bin Laden. The types of illocutionary acts are observed by the writer according to Searle’s Taxonomy of Illocutionary Act. They are representatives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations. The result of the study shows that representatives are frequetnly used by Obama in his speech. Representatives are used in 54 utterances (74%); Commissives are used in 11 utterances (15%); Expressives are used in 7 utterances (11%). Barack Obama used none both directive speech acts and declaration speech acts. Representatives are frequently used in Barack Obama speech because the purpose of the speech is to announce the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. The evidence is that most utterances in the transcipt use statements, descriptions, and reports.   


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Mouhcine El-Hajjami ◽  
Souad Slaoui

The present paper aims at examining the extent to which Moroccan cinema could establish a diasporic visual discourse that cements national identity and contests the impact of westernization on migrants. Moreover, through the analysis the way in which independent identities are constructed in the host land, the article tries to incorporate a feminist discourse to highlight the role of the female subject in retrieving its own agency by challenging patriarchal oppression. Therefore, we argue that Mohammed Ismail’s feature-length film Ici et là (Here and There) has partially succeeded in creating a space for its diasporic subjects to build up their own independent identities beyond the scope of westernization and patriarchy.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 206
Author(s):  
Pål Ketil Botvar

The Norwegian National Day (17 May, also referred to as Constitution Day) stands out as one of the most popular National Day celebrations in Europe. According to surveys, around seven out of every 10 Norwegians take part in a public celebration during this day. This means that the National Day potentially has an impact on the way people reflect upon national identity and its relationship to the Lutheran heritage. In this paper, I will focus on the role religion plays in the Norwegian National Day rituals. Researchers have described these rituals as both containing a significant religious element and being rather secularized. In this article, I discuss the extent to which the theoretical concepts civil religion and religious nationalism can help us understand the role of religion, or the absence of religion, in these rituals. Based on surveys of the general population, I analyze both indicators of civil religion and religious nationalism. The two phenomena are compared by looking at their relation to such items as patriotism, chauvinism, and xenophobia. The results show that civil religion explains participation in the National Day rituals better than religious nationalism.


Author(s):  
Z.Kh. Guchetl ◽  
◽  
O.I. Kuskarova ◽  

In this article, the authors comprehend the moral and ethical phenomenon of "Adyge habz the problems of its preservation and development in modern society in the context of globalization. The study of traditions is undoubtedly relevant in modern conditions, when many ethnic groups persistently retain interest in past values, their origins and prospects. The authors note that this problem is relevant not only for the Adygs, but also for other peoples of the North Caucasus, which have their own analogues of national moral and ethical codes. Based on the results of the conducted sociological research, it is concluded that the role of Adyghism (adygag) in the system of traditional ethno-cultural values of the Adyghes has decreased, and therefore there is a need to revive and develop the national identity of the Adyghes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (105) ◽  
pp. 78-86
Author(s):  
EKATERINA A. NIKONOVA

The article deals with the analysis of the balance of opinion in the newspaper, which is originally realized through editorial and op-ed genres. We analyzed 20 articles from “The Wall Street Journal” and “The New York Times” in the genres of editorial and op-ed about events in Afghanistan in August 2021, which were interpreted differently in mass media due to the role of the White House. The findings prove that in the context of new digital reality the op-ed has lost its original function of conveying alternative positions to the ones stated in the editorial; at the same time newspapers tend to advocate the positions shared by the political parties they have historically developed close relations with: “The Wall Street Journal” - with the Republican Party, “The New York Times” - the Democratic Party.


Author(s):  
T ABDRASSİLOV ◽  
Zh NURMATOV ◽  
K KALDYBAY

This study intends to explore the salience of national identity for young people from the perspective of ‘commitment and loyalty’ to their nation. The uniqueness of this study is that it provides the opportunity to observe the salience of civic, ethnic, and cultural features of national identity in Kazakhstan.This article has examined the importance of national identity theoretically and critically reviewed the literature on this theme. For the case study, a small survey was conducted in order to evaluate the role of inclusion in shaping national identity among young students.An academic implication of this research entails further research on the salience of belonging and sense of attachment to national identity among young people in other cosmopolitan cities of Kazakhstan, such as Almaty, Nur-Sultan and Atyrau, where the effect of globalisation is more prevalent and the Kazakh customs and traditions less noticeable in order to make a comparative evaluation.In this context, the authors consider the importance of national identity for young individuals by analysing the theories on nations and nationalism, specifically emphasising the relation between individuals and their nations. Analysis is complemented by a short survey on the subject of national identity, which was carried out among students of the Kazakh-Turkish International University in Turkistan, Kazakhstan.


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