How ‘Homeland’ Put America on The Path to Illiberalism

A phrase from the 1990s altered America’s sense of itself — and its political trajectory

"When I worked in Bill Clinton’s White House, my colleagues and I drafted a directive for the president titled “Defense of the Homeland”. I objected to this tag, not because I opposed the policy substance, but because the word itself made me uneasy. “Homeland” felt faintly illiberal, even un-American. At the time, I could not fully articulate why. I was overruled."

Read Prof. Steven Simon's full article for Financial Times HERE 

Written by

Steven Simon