1995-10-01a- CIA Conference Report: THE CHALLENGE OF ETHNIC CONFLICT TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER IN THE 1990S GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES 01-Oct-95

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two-thirds of Canadians exclusively speak English, minorities, Hispanics and African Americans,
they remain separate nations. There are 20 different although manifesting characteristics that distinguish
nations in Latin America who speak Spanish and at themselves from other Americans, have not forged
least 17 different Arabic-speaking nations in the Mid- separate nations as major minorities have done in
die East and North Africa. most other countries. This is primarily because they
are dispersed throughout the United States and thus
Since language appears to be an essential but not deci- lack a specific homeland in which they are a majority.
sive element in national identity, the question remains Although Hispanic Americans have the potential to
of what distinguishes Americans from Canadians, become a separate nation within this country through
Germans from Austrians, or Uruguayans from Argen- retention of their distinctive Spanish language, their
tineans. Certainly a key element is an association with religious traditions, and for many their association
a particular "homeland." This is the hallowed land of with Mexico, it should be noted that separatists among
forefathers, whose legacy of monuments and struc- African Americans have always faced difficulties in
tures are encountered every day. A number of other- attempting to mobilize political sentiments because
wise homogeneous and exclusive peoples have failed their group shares with all other Americans a common
to forge themselves into nations because they lack dis- language and religious-derived values and traditions,
tinctive territories of their own, including Gypsies in in addition to their scattered location.
Europe and Parsees in India.
Part of'the American iconography in recent years has
Homeland is a key part of what the French political been an increasing distrust by many of anything that
geographer Jean Gottman termed the "iconography" smacks of "nationalism." This properly should not be
of nations. He included in the concept the sum total of seen as the same as "national identity." Nationalism
"icons" shared by a given group, including their refers to active political movements that play upon
national symbols, perceptions of history, traditional national group values, symbols, and prejudices.
myths, poetry, pastimes, and a host of other elements National identity is a passive shared state of mind that
that otherwise can be termed little more than "trivia." most individuals would consider a natural way of
To be a Canadian is to love ice hockey, to be senti- looking at things. When asked about their own
mental about the song "O Canada," and to resist the national identity, many highly educated Americans
"colossus of the south." Americans share George would profess a lack of such. However, they cannot
Washington's mythic cherry tree and contact football. escape the fact that they are members of the American
The traditions of Islam and the values of Buddhism nation, living in a world of Babe Ruth, "we the peo-
are foreign to both groups, however much a minority ple," and "liberty and equality for all." Accustomed to
of their individuals may treasure them. life in a successful melting pot, Americans cannot
understand why Serbs, Croats, and Muslims cannot be
Iconographies are the products of inherited traditions, just Yugoslavs or why Europe has had such difficulty
indoctrination in the education process, and mass uniting, now that 1992 has passed. However, it is
media. They also are subject to change. Bing Crosby ironic that some of the most avowedly nonnationalists
was once a significant element in the American ico- or antinationalists in America opposed the North
nography; his place has been taken by Elvis Presley American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) because
and Garth Brooks. it will export "our"jobs to "those" Mexicans.
Americans have difficulty in contemplating the notion Part of the minimal active awareness of national iden-
of nationhood. Unlike Europeans, most of whom tity of Americans is the lack of a long history of
dwell within 100 miles of an international border, few English-speaking settlement in North America. Dis-
Americans ever face challenges to their national iden- counting the structures of Native Americans who
tities. Also, our society is a multicultural one, some-
thing increasingly celebrated. Our principal ethnic
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