The realities of World War III - permeable borders - have challenged Americans' historical values, creating an identity crisis. Responses to this crisis have created three distinct identities: the Crisis Identity, which feels overwhelmed and adopts a chameleon like behavior to fit in; the Default Identity, which reacts forcefully by reviving past beliefs, values and perspectives; and the Sustainable Identity, which works to understand the new world on its own terms and develops a flexible and viable response. At present, Americans seem, for the most part, either trapped in the Crisis Identity or stuck in the Default Identity.
We have noticed four arenas of activity that appear to be training individuals to get comfortable with a borderless world: technology, privacy-security, the environment and ownership.