Facebook Nation

President Barack Obama, in his 2011 State of the Union Address, called America "the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers" and "of Google and Facebook." U.S. Chief Information Officer.

When strangers meet in social clubs, watch reality television, or interact on Facebook, they contribute to the social glue of mass society—not because they promote civic engagement or democracy, but because they enact the sacred promise of friendship. Where most theories of nationalism focus on issues of collective identity formation, Kaplan’s novel framework turns attention to compatriots’ experience of solidarity and how it builds on interpersonal ties and performances of public intimacy. Combining critical analyses of contemporary theories of nationalism, civil society, and politics of friendship with in-depth empirical case studies of social club sociability, Kaplan ultimately shows that strangers-turned-friends acquire symbolic, male-centered meaning and generate feelings of national solidarity.

Imagine James Bond meets Sherlock Holmes: Counterterrorism and Cybersecurity is the sequel to Facebook Nation in the Total Information Awareness book series by Newton Lee. The book examines U.S. counterterrorism history, technologies, and strategies from a unique and thought-provoking approach that encompasses personal experiences, investigative journalism,