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The article presents a speech by Craig Calhoun, political research from New York University, delivered at the London School of Economics and Political Science on April 16, 2008, in which he discussed cosmopolitanism, nationalism, and the views of social anthropologist Ernest Gellner.

The article presents the opinion of Craig Calhoun who is president of the Social Science Research Council and University Professor of Social Sciences at New York University, New York, New York (State), on the questions dealing with a constitutional crisis in the United States. The article further adds that U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has been more willing to sacrifice liberty than to provide security. Strengthening the coercive and surveillance powers of the state does not necessarily enhance security. For one thing, it makes citizens more vulnerable to abuses by government officials. Beyond this, massive use of computer assisted surveillance without serious legal safeguards makes citizens vulnerable to errors that are notoriously hard to correct, and to leaks and thefts of data that are notoriously hard to prevent.