AMERICAN MULTICULTURALISM IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: ACHIEVING DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL GOALS IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD SAÏD OUAKED Introduction Recent debates and events in the American social and political arena have generated intense discussions about the reality and practicability of multi- culturalism in the United States. Ironically, the United States celebrated in 2015 the 50 th anniversary of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which put an end to a system based on racial quotas. But fifty years after the end of segregation and of ethnic considerations in immigration laws, the race problem has not disappeared despite signs of greater tolerance for ethnic diversity. The persistent inflow of immigrants and the de- mographics of ethnic minorities (chiefly that of the Hispanic community) continue to fuel discussions about the future of the American identity (see Huntington) and the ability of the different ethnic groups to coexist serene- ly. Among scholars and researchers, some have tried to determine whether the American society has finally entered a multicultural era where ethnic diversity is no longer a problem. Let’s start by clarifying the purpose of this paper: the aim is not to determine if the U.S. is a multicultural society but rather to examine how the idea that the U.S. is multicultural has served the interests of the nation. It is safe to speculate that the U.S. is widely considered a multicultural country, not necessarily in the sense that ethnic diversity is unconditionally accepted by all, but rather because the nation is de facto ethnically diverse (Alesina et al.). Even if minority ethnic groups are not given special treat- ment in the U.S. (as may be the case in countries such as Canada), their presence and participation in the society are usually not questioned in the mainstream media discourse. That is what recent polls seem to reveal