Garčević Discusses “the American Dream” in Remaker Op-Ed
Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published the latest in a series of op-eds for Remaker in which he discusses the state of “the American dream” amid COVID-19 and recent anti-racism protests.
In the piece, titled If the 4th of July Could be Delayed This Year, Garčević juxtaposes the current situation in the United States – protests following the police murder of George Floyd and combating the coronavirus pandemic – with the vibrant and appealing idea of “the American Dream” shared by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Garčević argues that “America” can mean two things: a country, geographically – the United States of America – and the idealistic interpretation of what the U.S. can be, which renowned film director Wim Wenders described as “[the] American Dream.” The piece also poses the question of whether the American dream is over. Is the U.S. today closer to the song “This Is America” by Childish Gambino or the song “Ragged Old Flag” by Johnny Cash?
Nearly 14% of the U.S. population was born in another country, numbering more than 44 million people. This was the highest share of foreign-born people in the US States since 1910. With that in mind, the op-ed concludes with the assumption that the dream is alive as long as people see the U.S. as a better place for themselves and their children.
The full op-ed can be read here.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about him here.