ABSTRACT
Americans and Germans have much work to do including fundamentally rethinking their national identities and how they operationalize them. US and German political leaders need to find ways to fight terrorism without mangling human rights. Domestic racism and inhumane refugee policies undermine legitimate efforts to combat terrorism. Since 2015, racist nationalism has increasingly endangered people seeking safe havens in the United States and Europe. Donald Trump’s martial metaphors and masculinist rhetoric mark his international negotiations and domestic politics. While the Muslim ban was in the lower courts, Trump addressed the United Nations where he invoked the US Constitution as a symbol of advanced political culture and global leadership. Trump’s child separation policy further reflects a disregard for human rights and the combative toughness, which is part of doing gender in Washington. During a 2018 European trip, Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist and the architect of the Muslim ban, met with Alice Weidel of the Alternative for Deutschland Party.
