Publication

This commentary argues that the internal US debate over whether to accept a large number of Syrian refugees or not boils down to a question of values. The text's authors contend that shutting out those who seek refuge would constitute a breach of America's principles of civic nationalism, which are based on a collective ideology rather than on race, ethnicity, gender, creed, etc. They also acknowledge, however, that the safety of the American people and the American homeland has to be factored into Washington's policy calculations.