The Second American Civil War Is Not Taking Place

Abstract

My title both denies and affirms the core claim of the essay by Paul Kahn beneath which this comment appears. I agree for the most part with Kahn’s depiction of the actuality of the United States, but I disagree with his overarching categorization of this as “civil war.” I do not believe a second U.S. civil war is sensu stricto either in progress or even in prospect. The political situation in the United States is not a war. This is a fact that Kahn himself is hardly unaware of, although he seeks to avert it through a redefinition of the term “war.” I will hence contest this redefinition.