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ID: 085176

Bush's America and the new exceptionalism: anti-Americanism, the holocaust and the transatlantic rift / MacDonald, David

Macdonald, David	Journal Article
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2008.

Summary/Abstract

This article examines how the USA's growing 'Holocaust consciousness' has impacted on conservative interpretations of the transatlantic rift. Presenting the Holocaust as an antipode to US national identity has helped signal a moral divergence between the USA and Europe. The instrumentalisation of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism has allowed US conservatives to reframe norms of self-defence, victimisation, and liberation in justifying the invasion and occupation of Iraq. In the wake of Iraq claiming anti-Semitism as a 'European disease', and anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism as 'twin brothers', helps delegitimate European criticism of the war on terror. A new form of exceptionalism portrays the USA not only as the liberator of death camps and the protector of the Jewish people but, after 11 September, as a victim itself.

Key Words

Holocaust ; Anti - Americanism ; Jorge W Bush ; Transatlantic Rift ; Anti - Semitism

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ID: 086309

Who are the westerners / Ifversen, Jan Ifversen

Ifversen, Jan Ifversen	Journal Article
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Publication

2008.

Summary/Abstract

The West used to be one of those stable concepts that oriented the Westerners in their various activities around the world. Today it is a concept challenged from several sides. Through an overview of the basic historical meanings of the concept, this article focuses on the points of contestation and possible changes regarding the concept of the West. The most important challenge to the concept has been made by a debate over the actual status of the transatlantic relationship. Whereas the existence of a political West is strongly questioned within the debate over a possible transatlantic divide, there seems to be a parallel move in the reverse direction when the concept is used in opposition to Islam. Although the idea of a clash of civilizations is dismissed by many, it still plays an important role in reviving the West as a cultural and civilizational entity. We are thus witnessing an internal dismantling of the West alongside an external rearming of the concept.

Key Words

Civilization ; West ; Transatlantic Rift ; Clash ; Islam

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