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Since the founding of the United States of America, anti-Americanism has existed in different forms and for different reasons. Some anti-American views derive from ideological resistance to American values and culture. Other views are expressions of group identity, racism, and xenophobia. Still other anti-American sentiments are reactions to the policies of the United States government.
Since the founding of the United States of America, anti-Americanism has existed in different forms and for different reasons. Some anti-American views derive from ideological resistance to American values and culture. Other views are expressions of group identity, racism, and xenophobia. Still other anti-American sentiments are reactions to the policies of the United States government.


===The degeneracy thesis===
[[Image:Buffon 1707-1788.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Comte de Buffon]], a leading French naturalist, developed the "degeneracy thesis" in the mid-eighteenth century. It held that the American landmasses were inferior to Europe and in decline due to atmospheric conditions.]]
According to critics, the first pronounced anti-American trend emerged in the mid- to late-eighteenth century: the so-called "degeneracy thesis," it portrayed the New World landmasses as inferior to Europe and in decline. The theory held that the [[humidity]] and other [[atmosphere|atmospheric]] conditions in America physically weakened both [[men]] and [[animal]]s. It was commonly argued in Europe and even considered cutting-edge science.<ref name=Ceaser/><ref name=Granthem>{{ cite journal | last =Grantham | first =Bill | year =2003 | month =Summer | title =Brilliant Mischief: The French on Anti-Americanism | journal =World Policy Journal | volume =20 | issue =2 | url = http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/articles/wpj03-2/grantham.html| accessdate = 2008-05-16 }}</ref> Purported evidence for the idea included the smallness of American fauna, dogs that ceased to bark, and venomous plants.<ref name=Meunier>{{ cite web | last = Meunier| first =Sophie | format =PDF | year =2005 | month =March | title =Anti-Americanism in France | journal = | volume = | issue = | pages = | publisher =Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University | url = http://www.jhfc.duke.edu/ducis/GlobalEquity/pdfs/Meunier.pdf| accessdate = 2008-05-18 | quote = }}</ref>


James Ceaser identifies the [[Comte de Buffon]], a leading French naturalist, as the originator of the theory, but Dutchman [[Cornelius de Pauw]], court [[philosopher]] to [[Frederick II of Prussia]] became its leading proponent.<ref name=Ceaser/> In [[1768]], de Pauw described America as "degenerate or monstrous" colonies and argued that, "the weakest European could crush them with ease."<ref>de Pauw, Cornelius. ''Recherches philosophiques sur les Américains ou Mémoires intéressants pour servir à l'histoire de l'espèce humaine.'' London, 1768.</ref> The great French writer [[Voltaire]] joined Buffon and others in making the argument.<ref name=Meunier/>

The theory was extended to argue that the natural environment of the United States would prevent it from ever producing true culture. Paraphrasing de Pauw, the [[Encyclopédie|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."<ref>Raynal, Abbé Guillaume-Thomas. ''Histoire philosophique et politique des deux Indes.'' Amsterdam, 1770.</ref> (So virulent was Raynal's antipathy that his book was suppressed by the French monarchy.) The theory was debated and rejected by early American thinkers such as [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[Benjamin Franklin]], and [[Thomas Jefferson]]; Jefferson, in his ''[[Notes on the State of Virginia]]'' (1781), provided a detailed rebuttal of de Buffon.<ref name=Ceaser/>

Bill Grantham, reviewing [[Philippe Roger]], suggests that the idea of degeneracy posited a symbolic, as well as a scientific America, that would evolve beyond the original thesis. In France, Buffon's ideas formed the root of a "stratification of negative discourses" that has recurred throughout the two countries' relationship (and has been matched by persistent [[Francophobia|anti-Gallic]] sentiment in the United States).<ref name=Granthem/>

Ceaser also notes that the degeneracy thesis evolved: the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] strain of European thought and literature, hostile to the Enlightenment view of [[reason]] and obsessed with [[history]] and national character, disdained the rationalistic American project while repurposing the language of degeneracy. The German poet [[Nikolaus Lenau]] encapsulated the Romantic view, "With the expression ''Bodenlosigkeit'' (absence of ground), 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."<ref name=Ceaser/>


===Anti-technology===
===Anti-technology===

Revision as of 11:59, 22 May 2008

Anti-Americanism, often anti-American sentiment, is opposition or hostility to the people, culture or policies of the United States.[1] In practice, a broad range of attitudes and actions critical of or opposed to the United States have been labeled anti-Americanism. Thus, the applicability of the term is often disputed.[2] Contemporary examples typically focus on opposition to United States policy, though historically the term has been applied to a variety of concepts.

Interpretations of anti-Americanism have often been polarised. Anti-Americanism has been described as a belief[3] that configures the United States and the American way of life as threatening at their core[4]—what Paul Hollander has called "a relentless critical impulse toward American social, economic, and political institutions, traditions, and values."[5] 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.[6]

Whether sentiment hostile to the United States reflects reasoned evaluation of specific policies and administrations, rather than a prejudiced belief system, is a further complication. Globally, increases in perceived anti-American attitudes appear to correlate with particular policies,[7] such as the Vietnam and Iraq[8] wars. For this reason, critics sometimes argue the label is a propaganda term that is used to dismiss any censure of the United States as irrational.[9]

Discussions on anti-Americanism have in most cases lacked a precise definition of what the sentiment entails, which has lead to the term being used broadly and in a impressionistic manner, resulting in an incoherent nature in the many expressions described as anti-American.[10]

Definitions and usage

In the first edition of Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) the word 'anti-American' was defined as "opposed to America, or to the true interests or government of the United States; opposed to the revolution in America."[11] In France the use of the noun form 'antiaméricanisme' has been cataloged from 1948,[12] entering wide political language in the 1950s.[13] The related noun "Americanization" (which is thought often to elicit anti-Americanism) has been dated to a French source as early as 1867;[14] the verb form, "Americanize"—"to render American; to assimilate to the Americans in customs, ideas, etc.; to stamp with American characteristics"—was registered in Webster's dictionary of 1828. Labeling earlier attitudes and commentary "anti-American" may be a partly retroactive exercise, but numerous examples of hostile sentiment directed at the country can be found, from at least the late 18th century onwards. The political employment of the word 'Anti-American' may be traced to the end of the War of 1812 (1812–1815), when the Federalist Party was accused by the Democratic-Republican press of near-treasonous events at the Hartford Convention, such as (unfounded) claims of secession proceedings, and framed as the anti-American Party.[15]

Definitions of the term anti-Americanism have been much debated. German newspaper publisher and political scientist Josef Joffe suggests five classic aspects of the phenomenon: reducing Americans to stereotypes; believing the United States to have an irremediably evil nature; ascribing to the U.S. establishment a vast conspiratorial power aimed at utterly dominating the globe; holding the United States responsible for all the evils in the world; and seeking to limit the influence of the United States by destroying it or by cutting oneself and one's society off from its polluting products and practices.[16] Other advocates of the significance of the term argue that anti-Americanism represents a coherent and dangerous ideological current, comparable to anti-Semitism.[17] Anti-Americanism has also been described as an attempt to frame the consequences of U.S. 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.[18]

Its status as an "-ism" is a greatly contended aspect, however, and it is often called a propaganda term by critics who feel it is used to dismiss any censure of the United States as irrational. American academic Noam Chomsky, a prolific critic of U.S. policy, asserts that the use of the term within the U.S. has parallels with methods employed by totalitarian states or military dictatorships; he compares the term to "anti-Sovietism", a label used by the Kremlin to suppress dissident or critical thought, for instance.[19][20][21] Brendon O'Connor notes that studies of the topic have been "patchy and impressionistic," and often one-sided attacks on anti-Americanism as an irrational position.[6]

Some have attempted to recognize both positions. French academic Pierre Guerlain has argued that the term represents two very different tendencies: "One systematic or essentialist, which is a form of prejudice targeting all Americans. The other refers to the way criticisms of the United States are labeled "anti-American" by supporters of U.S. policies in an ideological bid to discredit their opponents."[22] Guerlain argues that these two "ideal types" of anti-Americanism can sometimes merge, thus making discussion of the phenomenon particularly difficult. Other scholars have suggested that a plural of anti-Americanisms, specific to country and time period, more accurately describe the phenomenon than any broad generalization.[23] The widely used "anti-American sentiment", meanwhile, less explicitly implies an ideology or belief system.

History

Since the founding of the United States of America, anti-Americanism has existed in different forms and for different reasons. Some anti-American views derive from ideological resistance to American values and culture. Other views are expressions of group identity, racism, and xenophobia. Still other anti-American sentiments are reactions to the policies of the United States government.


Anti-technology

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 some varieties of 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.

Friedrich 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." [citation needed]

It has been argued 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." [citation needed] Oswald Spengler had made similar claims in 1931's Man and Technics and his 1934 bestseller The Hour of Decision. [citation needed] In 1921, the Spaniard Luis Araquistáin wrote a book called El Peligro Yanqui (“The Yankee Peril”), in which he condemned American nationalism, mechanization, anti-socialism (“socialism is a social heresy there”) and architecture, finding particular fault with the country’s skyscrapers, which he felt diminished individuality and increased anonymity. He called the United States “a colossal child: all appetite...”[24]

Anti-globalism

See also: Anti-globalization

Anti-CAFTA graffiti in San José, Costa Rica

According to its opponents, neoliberal globalization has magnified the visibility of trade conflicts and decreased job security[25], and is often attributed to either U.S. or Anglo-American influence[26] Anti-globalist sentiments stem from[dubious – discuss] perceptions that the United States was the inspiration and architect for globalization and neoliberal free trade policy, which those opposed to it claim is exploitative, and leads to conditions that either impoverish or do not enrich developing nations. According to some critics, globalization also exposed previously isolated countries to the spread of the English language and American popular culture, a process that some have labeled cultural imperialism (see American Cultural Imperialism). The 'Anglo-American' corporate business model is the subject of much opposition ("the EU constitution on offer, Laurent Fabius had argued, was too low on social protection and too high on shameful Anglo-Saxon economic liberalism")[27]

National Identity

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

Just as the United States itself has defined itself against Monarchical and Communist countries during its history, and is now defining itself against terrorism and radical Islam, anti-American ideologies have sometimes been used for propaganda purposes. In Iran for instance, the cry of "Death to America" has been used in Iran's parliament[28] and at political rallies [29] . 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 European strand of anti-Americanism, some authors, like A.S. Markowitz in Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America, argue it would be linked to the creation of a coalescing European identity.

"The fundamental role of anti-Americanism in Europe in general, and particularly among those on the Left, is to absolve themselves of their own moral failings and intellectual errors by heaping them onto the monster scapegoat, the United States of America. For stupidity and bloodshed to vanish from Europe, the U.S. must be identified as the singular threat to democracy (contrary to every lesson of actual history). Thus, during the Cold War, it was dogma among Europeans from Sweden to Sicily, from Athens to Paris, that the "imperialistic" power was America, even though it was the USSR that annexed Eastern Europe, made satellites out of several African countries, and invaded Afghanistan, even though it was the People's Republic of China that marched into Tibet, attacked South Korea, and subjugated three Indochinese countries. A similar dynamic applies today in the war on terror.[30]"

Others, such as Minxin Pei of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, suggest that the unique character of American nationalism[citation needed] is the cause of some anti-Americanism.

"The US has difficulty understanding why other countries feel nationalistic. And its idealism appears to others as hypocrisy. "Many admire its idealism, universalism and optimism... others reject American nationalism as merely the expression of an overbearing, self-righteous and misguided bully.'"[31]

According to Noam Chomsky, the concept is totalitarian:

"The concept "anti-American" is an interesting one. The counterpart is used only in totalitarian states or military dictatorships... Thus, in the old Soviet Union, dissidents were condemned as "anti-Soviet." That's a natural usage among people with deeply rooted totalitarian instincts, which identify state policy with the society, the people, the culture. In contrast, people with even the slightest concept of democracy treat such notions with ridicule and contempt. Suppose someone in Italy who criticizes Italian state policy were condemned as "anti-Italian." It would be regarded as too ridiculous even to merit laughter. Maybe under Mussolini, but surely not otherwise. Actually the concept has earlier origins. It was used in the Bible by King Ahab, the epitome of evil, to condemn those who sought justice as "anti-Israel" ("ocher Yisrael," in the original Hebrew, roughly "hater of Israel," or "disturber of Israel"). His specific target was Elijah."[32]

Perceived ideological contradictions

File:Anti-US Tehran.jpg
Tehran, Iran, 2004

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."

Early 20th century

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 among the allies of the United States, 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.

Post-Cold War policies

File:Vitrenkoposter.jpeg
Ukrainian 2004 election poster of Nataliya Vitrenko depicting a hand symbolizing the U.S. and NATO with a Nazi swastika

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. Where the governments of allied states in particular had felt disinclined to openly criticize U.S. policy during the Cold War, they have had fewer such qualms since. "By cultivating an anti-American position, Europe feigns membership in a global opposition of the downtrodden by America."[33] In addition, criticism of American economic sanctions and embargoes toward various countries, including Cuba, Sudan, North Korea and Iran, while maintaining commercial relations with countries such as China generates resentment[citation needed].

French author Jean-François Revel wrote that "For skeptics of democratic capitalism, the United States is, quite simply, the enemy. For many years, and still today, a principal function of anti-Americanism has been to discredit the nation that stands as the supreme alternative to socialism. More recently, Islamists, anti-modern Greens, and others have taken to pillorying the U.S. for the same reason."[30]

The belief that America was ruled by a Jewish conspiracy or that Israel was an American puppet state has also motivated anti-American hatred in some circles during the last third of the 20th century. Other items of concern include American military interventions and imperialism, especially in connection with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the perceived selective favor given to allies of the United States in international institutions [citation needed], especially involving issues like nuclear proliferation [34]. Also the apparent dismissal of international law, i.e. the treatment of detainees, in the War on Terror has intensified criticism .

Regional attitudes

Anti-Americanism in some form has existed across different American presidential administrations, though its severity may wax and wane considerably depending upon particular economic or geopolitical issues. George W. Bush's presidency, for instance, is widely seen as inducing a major increase in Anti-Americanism,[35] with the 2003 invasion of Iraq affecting global opinions of the U.S.[36]

Europe

Rammstein's 2004 single Amerika was widely perceived as anti-American

Fabbrini (2004) reports the American invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003 brought anti-Americanism to the surface of public debate in Europe. The reaction to U.S. unilateralism has been nourished by a complex of fears, two in particular: the presumed economic and cultural Americanization of Europe and the Americanization of the European political process. The overwhelming global power acquired by the United States in the post-Cold War era and the unilateral exercise of that power, especially after 9/11 attacks September 11, 2001 fed the anti-American sentiment contributing to its most militant manifestation. During the George W. Bush administration, public opinion of America has declined in most European countries. A Pew Global Attitudes Project poll shows "favorable opinions" of America between 2000 and 2006 dropping from 83% to 56% in the United Kingdom, from 62% to 39% in France, from 78% to 37% in Germany and from 50% to 23% in Spain.[37]

In Britain, a traditional U.S. ally, public affection for the USA has measurably declined in recent years. A June 2006 poll by Populus for The Times showed that the number of Britons agreeing that "it is important for Britain’s long-term security that we have a close and special relationship with the U.S." had fallen to 58% (from 71% in April), and that 65% believed that "Britain’s future lies more with Europe than America".[38] Only 44% agreed that "America is a force for good in the world." A later poll reported in The Guardian during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict said that 63% of Britons felt that Britain is tied too closely to the U.S.[39]

In early 2002, the #1 best seller in France was L'Effroyable imposture, which claimed that 9/11 was a conspiracy orchestrated by the U.S. government[40]. It broke the French record for first-month book sales.[41] In Europe in 2002, vandalism of American companies was reported in Venice, Athens, Berlin, Zürich, Tbilisi, and Moscow.[42]

European anti-Americanism well predates the invasion of Iraq and the Bush Administration, with criticisms of American "hegemonism", the coining of the term "hyperpuissance", and the dream of making the EU a "counterbalance" to the United States all flaring up in the '90s. The usual criticisms were also levied, that America was enforcing sanctions against Iraq for oil, and attributing sinister motives to the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Serbia.[43] French anti-americanism predates the founding of the United States with the belief that it was a barbaric land and all who went there also degenerated.[44]

East Asia

In Japan and South Korea, much recent anti-Americanism has focused on the presence and behavior of American military personnel, aggravated especially by high-profile crimes by U.S. servicemembers, such as the 1995 Okinawan rape incident.[45][46] The on-going U.S. military presence in Okinawa remains a contentious issue in Japan.[47]

While protests have arisen over specific incidents, they are often reflective of deeper historical resentments. Robert Hathaway, director of the Wilson Center's Asia program, suggests: "the growth of anti-American sentiment in both Japan and South Korea must be seen not simply as a response to American policies and actions, but as reflective of deeper domestic trends and developments within these Asian countries."[48] In Japan, a variety of threads have contributed to anti-Americanism in the post-war era, including pacifism on the political left, nationalism on the right, and opportunistic worries over American influence in Japanese economic life.[49] Korean anti-Americanism after the war was fueled by American occupation and support for authoritarian rule, a fact still evident during the country's democratic transition in the 1980s.[50] Speaking to the Wilson Center, Katherine Moon notes that while the majority of South Koreans support the American alliance "anti-Americanism also represents the collective venting of accumulated grievances that in many instances have lain hidden for decades."[48]

Middle East

File:Teheran US Barry Kent2.JPG
Anti-American mural in Tehran

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 U.S. policies in the region, particularly its close relationship with Israel and its stance on such matters as Sudan's civil war and Darfur. However, some argue that the real roots lay in government policy as reflected in state-directed media. By this reasoning, America is blamed for failed systems in the Middle East, as a means of re-directing internal dissent outwards, towards what Osama Bin Ladin has called "the far enemy", America, instead of at indigenous regimes.

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.[51]The Iranian capital Tehran has many examples of anti-American murals and posters sponsored by the state; the former U.S. 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% in 2004. 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% in 2004.[52] However most of these countries showed a marked distinction between negative perceptions of the United States, and much less negative of Americans.[52]

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.[53] 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.[53]

Cultural anti-Americanism in the Middle East may have its origins with Sayyid Qutb, an influential Egyptian author, who Paul Berman titled "the Philosopher of Islamic Terror".[54] Qutb, the leading intellectual of the Muslim Brotherhood, studied in Greely, Colorado, from 1948-50, and wrote a book, The America I Have Seen based on his impressions. In it he decried everything in American from individual freedom and taste in music to Church socials and haircuts,[55].

"They danced to the tunes of the gramophone, and the dance floor was replete with tapping feet, enticing legs, arms wrapped around waists, lips pressed to lips, and chests pressed to chests. The atmosphere was full of desire..."

He offered a distorted chronology of American history and was disturbed by its sexually liberated women[56]

"The American girl is well acquainted with her body's seductive capacity. She knows it lies in the face, and in expressive eyes, and thirsty lips. She knows seductiveness lies in the round breasts, the full buttocks, and in the shapely thighs, sleek legs -- and she shows all this and does not hide it."

He was particularly disturbed by Jazz, which he called the American's preferred music, and it is created by Negroes to satisfy their love of noise and to whet their sexual desires ...[57]. Qutb's writings influenced generations of militants and radicals in the Middle East who viewed America as a cultural temptress bent on overturning traditional customs and morals, especially with respect to the relations between the sexes. As Paul Hollander has written:

"The most obvious and clear link between anti-Americanism and modernization is encountered in Islamic countries and other traditional societies where modernization clashes head on with entrenched traditional beliefs, institutions, and patterns of behavior, and where it challenges the very meaning of life, social relations, and religious verities. What becomes of the world when women can go to work and show large surfaces of skin to men they are not related to? In a recent case, the indignant male members of a Kurdish family in Sweden were "provoked" by the transgressing female of their family who had the temerity to have a job and a boyfriend and dress in Western ways. She was finally killed by her father."[58]

Hollander went on to explain that:

"In Arab countries and among Muslim populations, anti-Americanism is not only the monopoly of intellectuals but also a widespread disposition of the masses. In these areas, traditional religion, radical politics, and economic backwardness combine to make anti-Americanism an exceptionally widespread, virulent, and reflexive response to a wide range of collective and personal frustrations and grievances-and a welcome alternative to any collective or individual self-examination or stock-taking.

More generally, it is the rise of alternatives, ushered in by modernization, that threatens traditional societies and generates anti-American reaction. The stability of traditional society (like that of modern totalitarian systems) rests on the lack of alternatives, on the lack of choice. Choice is deeply subversive-culturally, politically, psychologically.

The recent outburst of murderous anti- Americanism has added a new dimension to the phenomenon, or at any rate, throws into relief the intense hatred it may encapsulate. The violence of September 11 shows that when anti-Americanism is nurtured by the kind of indignation and resentment that in [turn] is stimulated and sanctioned by religious convictions, it can become spectacularly destructive."[58]

Qutb's ideas influenced Osama Bin Laden, an anti-American Islamic militant who is believed to be the founder of the Jihadist organization Al-Qaeda.[59][60]He is a member of the prestigious and wealthy bin Laden family. In conjunction with several other Islamic militant leaders, bin Laden issued two fatawa—in 1996 and then again in 1998—that Muslims should kill civilians and military personnel from the United States and allied countries until they withdraw military forces from Islamic countries and withdraw support for Israel.[61][62]

He has been indicted in United States federal court for his alleged involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, and is on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Bin Laden, on behalf of Al-Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States of America in videos released to the public.[63][64]

Latin America

In Latin America, anti-American sentiment has deep roots dating back to the 1830s and the Texas Revolution.[65]Other significant 19th century events which led to a rise in anti-American sentiment were the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War, in which Mexico lost almost half of its territory to the US, the 1855 American intervention in Nicaragua and the Spanish-American War of 1898 - which turned Cuba into a virtual dependency of the United States.[66][67][68]Perceived racist attitudes of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants of the north towards the populations of South America also caused resentment.[69]In the twentieth century American support for the 1954 coup in Guatemala against Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, the United States embargo against Cuba, the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, Operation Condor, the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, the Salvadoran Civil War, the support of the Contras and the refusal to extradite a terrorist, continued to fueled anti-Americanism in the region.[70][71][72]Similarly, U.S. support for dictators such as Augusto Pinochet, Anastasio Somoza, Alfredo Stroessner has influenced regional attitudes.[73]Fidel Castro the revolutionary leader of Cuba has throughout his career tried to co-ordinate long standing South American resentments against the USA through military and propagandist means.[74][75]

The perceived failures of the neo-liberal reforms of the 1980s and the 1990s intensified opposition to the Washington consensus,[76] leading to a resurgence in support for Pan-Americanism, support for popular movements in the region, the nationalization of key industries and centralization of government.[77]America's tightening of the economic embargo on Cuba in 1996 and 2004 also caused resentment among South American leaders and has prompted them to use the Madrid based Iberian Summit as a meeting place rather than the American dominated OAS.[78]One of the most vocal of these leaders has been Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who is known for his strong opposition towards the American government, particularly George W. Bush, driving him to address him in many ways; referring to him as "the devil" before the United Nations.[79]He has clearly stated his intent to use Venezuela's oil resources as a card "against the toughest country in the world, the United States."[80]

Quotes

  • "The heaviest blow ever dealt at liberty will be dealt by this country [America], in the failure of its example to the earth" - Charles Dickens[81]
  • "America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between." - Oscar Wilde

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Dictionary definitions typically apply the term to the American people and government policies. (See, for instance, Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary.) Cultural anti-Americanism is attested in academic literature.
  2. ^ Hollander, Paul, The Politics of Envy, The New Criterion, November 2002, accessed 29 April 2007.
  3. ^ Hollander, Paul. Anti-Americanism: Irrational and rational, Transaction Publishers, 1995
  4. ^ Ceaser, James W. "A genealogy of Anti-Americanism", The Public Interest, Summer 2003.
  5. ^ Paul Hollander defined the prejudice thus: "Anti—Americanism is a predisposition to hostility toward the United States and American society, a relentless critical impulse toward American social, economic, and political institutions, traditions, and values; it entails an aversion to American culture in particular and its influence abroad, often also contempt for the American national character (or what is presumed to be such a character) and dislike of American people, manners, behavior; dress, and so on; rejection of American foreign policy and a firm belief in the malignity of American influence and presence anywhere in the world."[citation needed]
  6. ^ a b O'Connor, Brendan: "A Brief History of Anti-Americanism from Cultural Criticism to Terrorism", Australasian Journal of American Studies, July 2004, pp. 77-92
  7. ^ Rodman, Peter W. The world’s resentment, The National Interest, Washington D.C., vol. 601, Summer 2001
  8. ^ Documenting the Phenomenon of Anti-Americanism By Nicole Speulda, The Princeton Project on National Security, Princeton University, 2005
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