[IP] Understanding Anti-Americanism
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Stephen D. Poe" <sdpoe@xxxxxxx>
Date: August 21, 2004 4:38:24 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Understanding Anti-Americanism
Reply-To: sdpoe@xxxxxxx
Dave -
For IP if you like.
I found Rubin's historical perspective, starting back in the 1780s, to
be especially interesting and relevant today.
For a longer discussion, try: "Anti-Americanism", Jean-Francois Revel,
2003.
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-
author=Revel%2C%252520Jean-Francois/102-4065770-3798562>
Stephen
Foreign Policy Research Institute wrote:
Foreign Policy Research Institute
A Catalyst for Ideas
www.fpri.org
UNDERSTANDING ANTI-AMERICANISM
by Barry Rubin
August 20, 2004
UNDERSTANDING ANTI-AMERICANISM
by Barry Rubin
One of the most contentious issues of this presidential
election is the high level of anti-Americanism in the world
today. Is the problem due to an understandable reaction
against the policies of President George W. Bush or rather
the product of forces opposing freedom and democracy?
Like many partisan disputes, this debate misses the point
and mashes the facts to suit a predetermined objective:
whether Bush is the architect of hostility against the
United States or the champion of a free world against
totalitarians and whether Bush or Senator John Kerry would
be a better president.
If one examines anti-Americanism apart from these set
arguments, though, a much more accurate picture emerges.
Anti-Americanism is a phenomenon as old, actually even
older, than the United States itself. Although it has gone
through various periods and emphases, the main themes have
remained remarkably consistent, long predating either the
influence of Hollywood or America being a great power
internationally. Two of the most important are the vision of
the United States as a bad society, which threatens to
become the model for the whole world, and that of America as
seeking global conquest.
For example, the first clear statement of anti-Americanism
came from the French lawyer Simon Linguet in the 1780s. The
dregs of Europe, he warned, would build a dreadful society
in America, create a strong army, take over Europe, and
destroy civilization. If one were to be talking about the
spread of notions like democracy and liberty, Linguet's fear
was something of a personal premonition. A few years later,
he was guillotined by the French revolution.
Similarly, the first use of the word "Americanization" has
been traced to an 1867 article in a French journal which
warned that the import of American agricultural machinery
would end with the elimination of French culture. It is no
accident that France has long been the global capital of
anti-Americanism. Indeed, the level of hatred toward the
United States in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as other
decades, has been arguably higher than today.
In considering the roots of anti-Americanism, a dislike of
U.S. policies has often been set off against a disdain for
American values. Yet there are problems with both
explanations. Regarding values, withering criticism and even
hatred often arise among people who share those values in
broad terms. Europeans are also pro-democratic.
Sometimes, of course, criticism may be on target but what is
often being ejected so passionately is either the details
of how America interprets those values or a notion of
American life based on bizarre stereotypes. For instance,
America is seen as typified by capital punishment, yet most
states do not put people to death while many Americans
oppose this. Thus, capital punishment does not typify
America.
By the same token, Americans do not spend all their meals
eating pizza and hamburgers. There is a greater variety of
culinary experiences available in the United States than in
any other country, not to mention the high quality of food
that can be found. Another anti-American technique is to
compare the average or even lowest level of culture or
society in the United States with elite habits in Europe.
The average Frenchman does not spend his time reading
philosophy and eating haute cuisine.
Most important of all, however, may be the fact that the
United States has always been a symbol of modernity.
Whatever people did not like about the way the world was
heading -- urbanization, secularism, mass culture, and so on
-- was portrayed as a specifically American characteristic.
In the Middle East, the nature of American society is even
more distorted and misunderstood than in Europe.
The same basic points apply to U.S. policy. One can like or
dislike any given American action in the world but what
marks the difference between respectful criticism and
contorted, even murderous, hatred? If it is assumed that
American motives are evil (wanting to steal Iraq's oil and
rule the world), then obviously antagonism will prevail.
One question is whether actions are viewed as mistakes or
crimes proving the evil nature of America as imperialistic
and aggressive. Another is if a systematically negative
vision is portrayed, in which anything positive done by the
United States is deliberately ignored while other actions
are made to seem negative or worse than they are.
As to the timing of this particular wave of anti-Americanism
there are different causes. In the Cold War's aftermath, the
United States is the world's most powerful country whose
political, economic, and cultural influence seemed ever-
spreading. It is not surprising that many would perceive
that such a strong power was the great threat to their own
societies and countries. In a real sense, the current
situation is the realization of the two-centuries'-long
nightmare of anti-Americans.
In this context, Bush also seemed to fit long-standing anti-
American stereotypes in every detail of his life and
deportment. The negative image of America is closely tied up
with those who could be portrayed as cowboys, religious,
conservatives, and unintellectual. Being unpopular doesn't
mean being wrong, however, and only the American voters can
determine how they feel about his record and global image.
There is, however, one more extremely important factor that
is virtually always omitted in discussions of anti-
Americanism: self-interest. Those purveying anti-Americanism
have always been those who benefited from doing so, whether
promoting their material well-being or ideas.
Dictators use anti-Americanism to convince their subjects to
support them. Intellectuals and cultural figures have been
the main carriers of anti-Americanism as a weapon against a
country whose products compete with their work. Moreover,
the spread of the American model would greatly reduce their
power and prestige. For Europeans and Middle Easterners,
albeit in far different ways, anti-Americanism seems a good
slogan to unite around.
Come to think of it, the issue is often used similarly
within the United States, as a political tool or a partisan
bludgeon. Actually trying to understand the phenomenon in
its complexity, however, is the only way to respond
successfully to the very real problems it presents us with
today.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in
International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and Senior Fellow of
FPRI. He is co-author, with Judith Colp Rubin, of the just-
published book "Hating America: A History" (Oxford
University Press). This essay is based on his FPRI BookTalk
on August 12, 2004.
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