The U.S. is at once the most modern and the most traditionalist society in the developed world, claims British scholar Anatol Lieven. In a new book, Lieven explores American nationalism and finds two competing impulses at work: the high ideals of liberty and a darker, angrier strand.

In a historical survey that moves from the country’s founding to the humiliation of the Old South to events of September 11th, 2001, Lieven has pieced together the volatile blend of impulses at work in George Bush’s post-9/11 America.

Hear a conversation about America’s aggressive driving motivations today into the roots of American nationalism with historian and scholar Anatol Lieven.

Guests:

Anatol Lieven, a journalist and historian born and raised in London. He worked as a correspondent for The Times of London for 9 years covering Pakistan, Afghanistan and the former Soviet Union. He came to the U.S. in 2000 to research and write at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of the new book “America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism.”;
Jack Beatty, “On Point” news analyst and editor of the Atlantic Monthly.