Search

Discussions on American exceptionalism have been on the rise in the landscape of political discourse. The neoconservative turn during the George W. Bush administration revived discussion about exceptionalism as a theme in American foreign policy. Even in the wake of the double debacles of the US military and economy demonstrated by the ongoing turmoil in Iraq and Afghanistan and the 2008 global financial crisis, the age of populism has witnessed further politicization of the concept. The contemporary debate on US exceptionalism can be read as a symptom of the American identity crisis over the erosion of unipolarity, and it represents the contestation of various political solutions suggested by different ideological camps. Nowadays, reconsidering the meaning of American exceptional identity is not only a scholastic exercise, but an urgent practical problem regarding the future direction of US leadership and the liberal world order. In this context, this paper will explore diverse definitions and theoretical explanations of American exceptionalism in US diplomatic history. Furthermore, it will investigate the political and academic debates surrounding the "death" of exceptionalism in Trump's America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]