Why It's OK to Be Patriotic

The post-9/11 era saw patriotism transform from somber resolve into jingoistic excess, leaving many to wonder whether love of country inevitably corrupts into tribalism and violence.Critics from Leo Tolstoy to George Kateb have argued that patriotism is inherently dangerous, a relic of a less enlightened age.Yet abandoning patriotism entirely may be worse than the disease. Why It's OK to Be Patriotic makes a philosophically rigorous case that patriotism, properly conceived, is neither irrational nor harmful-but essential to democratic life.Case argues that patriotism is best understood as love of country rather than mere loyalty, a love directed toward compatriots as participants in a shared political community.Drawing on Aristotle, contemporary philosophy, and hard-won experience, he defends patriotism as a virtue-a golden mean between tribal excess and cosmopolitan detachment-while articulating the patriotic duties of heart and mind required to maintain the civic commons.He tackles t