As it happened in Arab countries

America is drifting into national disintegration with the loss of national identity

• Trump caused widespread controversy over national identity.

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• The political division among Americans has reached an alarming level.

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During where I met, among a variety of interesting people, a group of Kurdish university students.

At some point in our conversation, I asked students: "What set of ideas, principles, history and national narrative do you share with college students in Baghdad or Basra?"

Their collective response was: "Nothing!"

If the Iraqis could not agree on a common set of ideas about what it means to be an Iraqi, it seemed that the country was destined for ultimate collapse.

This is not an analogy between the United States and Iraq, and like many other countries, in the Middle East and elsewhere, but the United States must face the pathology of its identity.

National Identity

Specifically, I am referring to national identity, through the ways in which Americans define themselves, their relationship with the state, and their relationships with one another.

Of course, we all have what sociologists call "components of identity", parts of which we emphasize at different times depending on circumstances.

To clarify, I will give an example: An old friend identified himself on Twitter as "Abu L Game Cook", which reflects that he is an American of Egyptian origin, who grew up in South Carolina, and is a fan of the company "Game Cook" of the University of South Carolina.

As he explained to me, several years ago, he is an American when he is among the Egyptians, an Arab among the Americans, and an Egyptian among the Arabs.

And political leaders often use the identity to advance their own interests or the interests of their countries.

What does all this have to do with the United States?

When I was in Sulaymaniyah talking to Kurdish university students, I remember thinking about how different the outlook was between Iraqi Kurds and Iraqi Arabs, from the Americans.

And it was self-evident to me that even though I came from a privileged region of the United States and have a distinguished family history, I still share basic ideas about what it means to be an American with people all over my country.

And of course, I realized that this was a bit naive, and that it was in itself a product of my own experiences and my education, given how people of color, women, immigrants and others continue to suffer injustice.

However, I don’t think I was so naive, that I don’t believe that large numbers of Americans could agree on the foundational spirit of the state and the feeling that we wanted, however, to strive for it.

This was proven by the friendships that I had with people with whom I do not share much, and with whom I do not agree on almost all political issues.

Take, for example, a colleague of mine from the Upper Midwest.

In the beginning our only means of communication were cultural hubs, when we were teenagers, in the 1980s, which were part of our identity repertoire.

However, over time, we have discovered that we believe in many of the same basic principles and ideas that underpin our identity as Americans, including freedom, rule of law, and equal opportunity, to name just a few, even though we vote in different directions.

But recently, I have begun to wonder if this is true in the general sense.

Do enough Americans share a sense of national belonging that we can still refer to a common national identity?

And over the past four years, President Donald Trump has exposed aspects of American society that instill suspicion in my mind.

Similarities

I finally read a book about the United States up to and during the Civil War;

The parallels between our current situation and the pre-civil war period are stark and disturbing.

But I have long believed that the country's subsequent accomplishments and victories - reconstruction, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, the Cold War, globalization, and the technology revolution - bind the country together, by forming a common identity.

This history produced myths about America's national project, in which everyone can participate.

Of course, the national story of America was not always the stuff that covered the sun, like President Ronald Reagan's "America's Morning".

Reconstruction failed, and we still live with Jim Crow's legacy - apartheid.

The current US immigration policies are a blot on the country.

Despite the inspiring success of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, women are still poorly paid, their efforts are not appreciated proportionally, and are often mistreated in many areas of life in America.

But the myth-saturated narration, which became central to American identity, served an important unifying purpose.

Among the best physical manifestations of that identity - as the one who built it wanted it to be - is the "Arlington" Memorial Bridge, which connects Washington, DC, Virginia, with the Lincoln Memorial on one end, and the Arlington National Cemetery and Robert Edward Lee's home, on the other.

Once again, while many Americans are overlooked due to the bridge's intended symbolism, the form of this gesture toward unity and a shared identity is the important thing to preserve.

The bridge is undergoing construction work during the past years, but it appears that it has lost its symbolism.

Given our inability to conduct a dialogue, it is an open question whether Americans want to forge a common identity.

There are disturbing parallels with the way people I spoke to in Sulaymaniyah thought about their country.

Elsewhere in the country, they and their citizens have suffered dire consequences as a result of their inability to agree on what it means to be an Iraqi, to the point of rejecting the same idea in the case of many Kurds.

The contested identity in the Middle East has been manifested in political instability, violence, and civil strife.

And Americans, despite what we tell ourselves about our exceptionalism, are not immune to a similar fate.

Stephen Cook is an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. His book includes: False Dawn: Protest, Democracy and Violence in the New Middle East.

All Americans have what sociologists call “components of identity,” parts of which we emphasize at various times, depending on circumstances.

Despite the inspiring success of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, women are still poorly paid, their efforts are not appreciated proportionally, and are often mistreated in many areas of life in America.

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