The fundamental idea of a Nation among Nations is to change the perception that a territorial space of a country is enough contexts for explaining the United States’ national history. Hence, Bender emphasizes that any attempt to explain the U.S. history by American history only will always be incomplete. Therefore, to understand the American history better, it should be incorporated into the global context. Moreover, such notion has been instigated by his realization that the default narrative he previous had limited his capacity to understand the key themes of the American history like what history does the U.S. share with the global world. He also notes that the world history curriculum has changed, and schools offer world history course. However, these courses do not include American history thus, an indication of a split between America and the world. Hence, it is important that historian teaches history in a way that interconnectedness and commonalities. He admits that he does not intend to dismiss national history but proposes a different mode that serves citizens of the nation and the world while respecting the empirical records.
