Derb – I certainly take your point, and I am very reluctant to address this issue for fear of getting a lot of email from the mouth-breathers who think all such discussions return to Israel. Still, I’m not sure that loyalty has to be either/or or zero sum.

I suspect that you are more loyal to the United Kingdom than you are to, hmm, Costa Rica. This means in circumstances in which your support, moral or otherwise is torn between the UK and Costa Rica you will side with the UK, even if it’s only a matter of rhetoric and cocktail conversation. Similarly, I am sure you are loyal to your friends and loyal to your family, but you are more loyal to your family than to your friends. This is probably rarely a problem except in those instances where the interests of your friends and the interests of your family come into conflict.

I agree with you about maintaining dual nationality, but I think dual loyalty is not so bad so long as the dual loyalties in question are not in conflict. For example, in almost any contest between Britain and France, I will root for Britain because as an American I feel a greater sense of loyalty to Britain than I do to France. Indeed, I would certainly be willing to argue that as a loyal American it is in America’s interests to come to the aid of Britain if it were in a pinch, even if in the short term that created problems for America. Why? because loyalty to America must be rewarded with loyalty from America. Anyway, you get the point.