by Benjamin M. Studebaker
When the United States was created, security concerns played a major role. It was not for nothing that Ben Franklin popularized the famous moniker: Join, or Die. Once political death is off the table, federations become less interested in incorporating new member states on equal terms. Instead, they leave new territories in various forms of political purgatory. Much attention is paid to how this affects US territories, such as Puerto Rico, but what about the case of the allied states? There is an assumption that their independence is good for them, rather than a symptom of an American federation that has become increasingly tightfisted with regard to the extension of civil rights. Since it has been so long since the United States made any genuine offer of citizenship to any external territory, the possibility is scarcely entertained, much less seriously considered. At this point, political actors are in the habit of operating from the premise that it cannot be done, and this makes it even harder to have a politically meaningful conversation about it. Despite this situation, Brandon Christensen perseveres, retaining a higher horizon for the American project, and bringing us together here to discuss its viability. Often this discussion occurs at the level of history or philosophy, but in this piece, I will place a special emphasis on the context of the second Trump administration.
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Benjamin M. Studebaker received his PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge. Send him mail: bmstudebaker@gmail.com.
Isonomia Quarterly 