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Anti-Americanism

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File:1antiamericanism.jpg
Cover of Anti-Americanism by French author Jean-François Revel.

Anti-Americanism, often Anti-American sentiment, refers to a prejudice against the government, culture, or people of the United States. In practice, a broad range of attitudes and actions critical of or opposed to the United States have been labeled anti-Americanism and the applicability of the term is often disputed. Contemporary examples typically focus on international opposition to United States policy, though historically the term has been applied to a variety of concepts.

Interpretations of anti-Americanism have often been polarized. It has been described as a belief that configures the United States and the American way of life as threatening at their core. However, it has also been suggested that Anti-Americanism cannot be isolated as a consistent phenomenon and that the term merely signifies a rough composite of stereotypes, prejudices and criticisms towards Americans or the United States.

Whether sentiment hostile to the United States reflects reasoned evaluation of specific policies and administrations, rather than merely a prejudiced belief system, is a further complication. Increases in global anti-American attitudes appear to correlate with particular policies, such as the Vietnam and Iraq wars. For this reason, critics often claim the label is a propaganda item that is used to dismiss any censure of the United States as irrational.

Use of the term

The use of the term anti-Americanism has been catalogued from 1948, entering wide political language in the 1950s. The related term "Americanization" (to which anti-Americanism is at least partly a response) has been dated to a French source as early as 1867. Labeling earlier attitudes and commentary "anti-American" is thus partly a retroactive exercise, though there are numerous examples of hostility directed at the country from at least the late 18th century onwards.

Contemporary usage is often controversial. The term itself does not imply a critical attitude based on rational objections but rather a prejudiced system of thought and it is therefore rarely employed as a self-identifier (i.e. "I am anti-American...") as this implies bias. Instead, it is often used as a pejorative by those who object to another individual or group's stance toward the United States or its policies. Advocates of the significance of the term argue, for instance, that Anti-Americanism represents a coherent and dangerous ideological current, comparable to anti-Semitism.

Its status as an "-ism" is a greatly contended aspect, and is often called a propaganda term by critics. Some critics often claim the label is a propaganda item that is used to dismiss any censure of the United States as irrational that seeks to frame the consequences of difficult US policy choices as evidence of a specifically American moral failure, as opposed to what may be unavoidable failures of a complicated foreign policy that comes with superpower status.

Other scholars have also suggested that a plural of Anti-Americanisms, specific to country and time period, more accurately describe the phenomenon than any broad generalization. The widely-used "anti-American sentiment", meanwhile, less explicitly implies an ideology or belief system.

History

Anti-US banner in a demonstration in Brazil, stating: USA It is necessary to resist. Long live Brazil!!!

Strong feelings against the United States (and at times the North American continent) have persisted since the country's original settlement, with criticisms varying greatly in content and motive.

Degeneracy thesis

Anti-American sentiment in Europe originated with the discovery of America, the study of the Native Americans, and the examination of its flora, fauna, and climate. The first anti-American theory, the "degeneracy thesis," portrayed America as a regressive and culturally bankrupt continent. The theory that the humidity and other atmospheric conditions in America physically and morally weakened both men and animals was commonly argued in Europe and debated by early American thinkers such as Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. In 1768 Cornelius de Pauw, court philosopher to Frederick II of Prussia and chief proponent of this thesis, described America as "degenerate or monstrous" colonies and claimed that "the weakest European could crush them with ease." The theory was extended to argue that the natural environment of the United States would prevent it from ever producing true culture. Paraphrasing Pauw, the French Encyclopedist Abbé Raynal wrote, "America has not yet produced a good poet, an able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single science." (So virulent was Raynal's antipathy that his book was suppressed by the French monarchy.)

Some argued that due to this degeneracy America was a threat to the world and as the novelist Henry de Montherlant put it in the voice of a character: "One nation that manages to lower intelligence, morality, human quality on nearly all the surface of the earth, such a thing has never been seen before in the existence of the planet. I accuse the United States of being in a permanent state of crime against humankind." The degeneracy thesis later slightly shifted, focusing on the cultural qualities of the United States and gradually ignoring other American powers.

Romantic hostility

The French Revolution, seen by some as influenced by the American Revolution, created a new type of anti-American political thought, hostile to the political institutions of the United States and their impact upon Europe. Furthermore, the Romantic strain of European thought and literature, hostile to the Enlightenment view of reason and obsessed with history and national character, disdained the American project. The German poet Nikolaus Lenau encapsulated the Romantic view: "With the expression Bodenlosigkeit (rootlessness) I think I am able to indicate the general character of all American institutions; what we call Fatherland is here only a property insurance scheme."

Racism

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the racist theories of Arthur de Gobineau and others spread through Europe. The presence of blacks and "lower quality" immigrant groups made racist thinkers discount the potential of the United States. The infinite mixing of America would lead to the ultimate degeneracy. Gobineau said that America was creating "greatest mediocrity in all fields: mediocrity of physical strength, mediocrity of beauty, mediocrity of intellectual capacities - we could almost say nothingness."

Anti-technology and consumerism

Nazi propaganda poster addressing the Dutch public in 1944 with the words: "The USA are supposed to save European culture". The image utilizes a number of themes, some of which (racism, use of excessive force, American culture and the influence of Judaism) are still in use within modern anti-Americanism.

With the rise of American industry in the late nineteenth century, intellectual anti-American discourse entered a new form. Mass production, the Taylor system, and the speed of American life and work became a major threat to some intellectuals' view of European life and tradition. Nietzsche wrote: "The breathless haste with which they (the Americans) work - the distinctive vice of the new world - is already beginning ferociously to infect old Europe and is spreading a spiritual emptiness over the continent."

It has been claimed that this thesis transformed into a Heideggerian critique of technologism. Heidegger wrote in 1935: "Europe lies today in a great pincer, squeezed between Russia on the one side and America on the other. From a metaphysical point of view, Russia and America are the same, with the same dreary technological frenzy and the same unrestricted organization of the average man." A strange derivative of the thesis regarding the soullessness of America and its inherent threat to Europe was also used in Fascist rhetoric and in German and Japanese propaganda during World War II. It has been claimed that the Heideggerian critique, incorporated into existentialist (Sartre) and leftist thought after the war, played a central role in the political rhetoric of many Western European Communist parties.

Political hypocrisy

Samuel Johnson hit upon one theme that, in various and different forms, has long defined some forms of anti-American sentiment: the perceived hypocrisy of a supposed freedom-loving people engaged in less than admirable practices. Americans in his eyes were hypocrites in their relations with Indigenous peoples and African slaves: "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?" He famously stated that, "I am willing to love all mankind, except an American." Americans, for their part, mirrored this criticism with claims about the treatment of colonial subjects by European powers.

"The Other"

Anti-Americanism and feelings of hostility towards the US can even be found amongst America's closest allies. Here, anti-war demonstrators in Liverpool, UK, display anti-American messages.

Just as the United States has defined itself against Monarchical and Communist countries during its history and may now be defining itself against terrorism or radical Islam, the use of anti-American ideologies may represent a way for nations to unify the country and bridge political divisions and/or to cover up evident flaws in their political or economic system. Certain forms of social identity theory argue that the existence of "an other" is crucial to the development of group identity. In the case of a claimed European strand of anti-Americanism, some claim it would be linked to the creation of a coalescing European identity. Some Americans, as well, engage in this practice. For example, shortly before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, France expressed strong dissaproval with America's decision to the United Nations. In retaliation, congressmen Bob Ney and Walter B. Jones attempted to initiate a trend wherin "French Fries" would be referred to as "Freedom Fries". "Freedom" is a commonly used word in America pertaining to establishing a patriotic identity.

Some critics argue that anti-Americanism ideology often correlates with other forms of perceived extremism, such as virulent nationalist movements, radical Islam, or communism. Self-proclaimed French anti-anti-American, Bernard-Henri Levy, described this view: "Anti-Americanism is a horror. ... It is a magnet of the worst. In the entire world and in France in particular, everything that is the worst in people's heads comes together around anti-Americanism: racism, nationalism, chauvinism, anti-Semitism."

Modern Anti-Americanism

Early Twentieth Century and Cold War

As European immigration to the United States continued and the country's economic potential became more obvious, anti-American stances grew a much more explicit geopolitical dimension. A new strand of anti-American sentiment started to appear as America entered the competition for influence in the Pacific, and anti-Americanism was widespread among the Central Powers after the U.S. entered the First World War. Furthermore, many of the anti-American ideological threads spread to other areas, such as Japan and Latin America, where Continental philosophy was popular and growing American power was increasingly viewed as a threat. In political terms, even amongst the United States's allies, Britain and France, there was resentment at the end of the war as they found themselves massively in debt to the United States. These sentiments became even more widespread during the interbellum and Great Depression and sometimes tended toward the anti-Semitic: the belief that America was ruled by a Jewish conspiracy was common in countries ruled by fascists before and during World War II, and in the Middle East after the war. The reverse - the belief that Israel was an American puppet state - also became common in some circles during the last third of the 20th century.

During the Cold War, anti-Americanism grew within the sphere of the Soviet Union and spread to some other parts of the world, such as Africa and Asia, that had previously held the United States in higher regard than the major European colonial powers. The Vietnam War boosted anti-American sentiment: here, American critics felt, was naked imperialism at its worst, though supporters were willing to forgive the misadventure given the larger priorities of the Cold War. In addition, the United States' support for right-wing authoritarian regimes and numerous covert operations during this era had been likewise criticized.

Post Cold War era

Paradoxically, the fall of the Soviet Union may have brought an increase in anti-Americanism, because the U.S. was left as the world's only superpower, and people who formerly saw the United States as a bastion against Communism or needed the American security umbrella no longer felt the need to support the United States. In addition, globalization, which many believe has magnified the visibility of trade conflicts and decreased job security, is often attributed to either US or Anglo-American influence.

The world at large

The policies of the Bush administration have drawn hostility among European populations. This graffiti is in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Groups currently described as Anti-American are highly diverse, including French intellectuals, Islamist fundamentalists, South Korean students, Latin American populists, and even Americans themselves (within the United States the term "un-American" is as likely to be used). Anti-Americanism in some form has existed across different American presidential administrations, though its severity may wax and wane considerably. George W. Bush's first presidential term, for instance, is widely seen as inducing a major increase in Anti-Americanism, with the 2003 invasion of Iraq and controversies such as the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp and CIA "torture flights" badly affecting global opinions of the U.S.

Feelings of distrust and dislike toward the United States exist to various degrees in states in Western Europe. A survey in June 2005 showed that a majority of Europeans have an unfavorable image of America; however, two-thirds of those people opting for the "unfavorable" option claimed that this was due to George Bush and his political actions.

In Latin America, anti-American sentiment has deep roots, tracing to traumas of U.S.-supported dictators as well as economic and military interventions. Explicitly anti-American platforms have been adopted by leaders in the region, in part as a populist measure; this has been true in Cuba for decades and in Venezuela more recently.

In Japan and South Korea, much anti-Americanism has focused on the sometimes criminal behavior of American military personnel, aggravated especially by high-profile cases of sexual assaults on locals by U.S. servicemen. The on-going U.S. military presence in Okinawa remains a contentious issue in Japan.

Middle East

File:Down with usa mural.jpg
Anti-American mural in the Iranian capital Tehran. The US flag is depicted with the stripes being made by the trails of falling bombs, and skulls in place of the stars.

The Middle East region has been a focal point of much anti-American sentiment in the latter decades of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, often blamed on specific US policies in the region. The term Great Satan, as well as the chant "Death to America" have been in continual use in Iran since at least the Iranian revolution in 1979. The Iranian capital Tehran has many examples of anti-American murals and posters sponsored by the state; the former US Embassy in the city has been decorated with a number of such murals.

In 2002 and 2004, Zogby International polled the favorable/unfavorable ratings of the U.S. in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. In Zogby's 2002 survey, 76% of Egyptians had a negative attitude toward the United States, compared with 98% this year. In Morocco, 61% viewed the country unfavorably in 2002, but in two years, that number has jumped to 88 percent. In Saudi Arabia, such responses rose from 87% in 2002 to 94% in June. Attitudes were virtually unchanged in Lebanon but improved slightly in the UAE, from 87 % who said in 2002 that they disliked the United States to 73% this year. Hatred of America is strong in some foreign countries, especially those that are strongly Islamic. In such countries the anti-Americanism is often paired with broad support and admiration for Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

The Pew research institute probed more deeply the stereotypes of Westerners in the Middle east. While more than 70% of middle easterners identified more than 3 negative characteristics of the Westerner stereotype, the three strongest were selfish, violent and greedy. Few had positive opinions of Westerners, but the strongest positive stereotypes were devout and respectful of women. The report also demonstrates strong unfavorable views of Jews and weakly favorable views of Christians predominate in the Middle East. In Jordan, 61%, Pakistan 27%, and Turkey 16% have favorable views of Christians while in Jordan 1%, Pakistan 6%, and Turkey 15% have favorable views of Jews.


See also

References

Notes

  1. Hollander, Paul. Anti-Americanism: Irrational and rational, Transaction Publishers, 1995
  2. Ceaser, James W. "A genealogy of Anti-Americanism", The Public Interest, Summer 2003.
  3. O'Conner, Brendan. "A Brief History of Anti-Americanism from Cultural Criticism to Terrorism", Australasian Journal of American Studies, July 2004, pp. 77-92
  4. Rodman, Peter W. The world’s resentment, The National Interest, Washington D.C., vol. 601, Summer 2001
  5. Documenting the Phenomenon of Anti-Americanism By Nicole Speulda, The Princeton Project on National Security, Princeton University, 2005
  6. O'Connor, Brendan, op. cit., p 78: "... Cold War (1945-1989) ... In this period the false and disingenuous labeling of objections to American policies as ‘anti-Americanism’ became more prominent."
  7. Roger, Phillipe. The American Enemy: The History of French Anti-Americanism, introductory excerpt, University of Chicago Press, 2005.
  8. Rubin, Barry. "Understanding Anti-Americanism", Foreign Policy Research Institute, August 2004
  9. Foot, Rob. "The New Anti-Semitism?", Quadrant Magazine, vol, XLVIII n 4, April 2004.
  10. Kagan, Robert. Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order (2003)
  11. Katzenstein, Peter and Robert Keohane. "Conclusion: Anti-Americanisms and the Polyvalence of America", in Anti-Americanisms in World Politics, Katzenstein and Keohane, eds., Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006 (forthcoming).
  12. de Pauw, Cornelius. Recherches philosophiques sur les Américains ou Mémoires interessants pour servir à l'histoire de l'espèce humaine. London, 1768.
  13. Raynal, Abbé Guillaume-Thomas. Histoire philosophique et politique des deux Indes. Amsterdam, 1770.
  14. Alexander, Beth R. (2004). "Commentary: Bernard Henri-Levy takes heat". UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL. Retrieved 2006-03-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  15. Speulda, Nicole.Documenting the Phenomenon of Anti-Americanism, The Princeton Project on National Security, Princeton University, 2005
  16. CNN: Anti-Americanism in Europe deepens, February 14, 2003
  17. "The requested article was not found". Retrieved 2006-03-14.
  18. Tracing the Root of Anti-Americanism in Latin America, Review by Michael Shifter
  19. Nicole Risse, Yonsei University: [The Evolution in anti-Americanism in South Korea: From Ideologically Embedded to Socially Constructed];
  20. ^ Linzer, Dafna (2004). "Poll Shows Growing Arab Rancor at U.S." The Washington Post: A26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  21. ^ "The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other: Europe's Muslims More Moderate". Pew Global Attitudes Project. 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-12. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

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