Anti-Americanism: A Regional Comparison
Ashley Monzel
Aurora University
7 May 2014
Abstract
Anti-Americanism is not a new phenomenon, but it has received a marked increase in scholarly attention in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and subsequent US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. While an agreement exists that anti-American attitudes are present throughout the world, a disconnect remains between academic and public discourses regarding the explanations for these attitudes. Academic research largely focuses on the role of US Foreign Policy as a primary source of anti-American sentiment. On the contrary, public sources often interpret anti-American attitudes to be a result of feelings of jealousy for US freedoms, as well as a rejection of American values and standards of living. Following a review of the relevant literature, we will use comparative historical analysis to examine attitudes toward the US in a regional context, focusing on Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Our results show that it is the US Foreign Policy, which has often had complex and detrimental effects on the examined regions, that has caused unfavorable feelings towards the US to evolve. These findings could have a profound impact on future policy makers in their efforts to improve foreign policy and better the US image and its relations with countries throughout the globe.
Introduction
Acting as an imperial or hegemonic power in the international arena requires, by definition, the imposition of one society’s will. Rebellions against ancient Greek and Roman, and more recent British and French, rule attest to the fact that domination breeds resentment. All too often throughout history, countries holding positions of power have abused their influence and used their authority as a form of domination over other weaker nations.
America has tried to change that model. The hope following World War II was that the United States could establish an international order based on shared values and interests, and which would, by extension, not require the sort of overt domination characteristic of previous global powers. The US would lead by the force of its examples and ideas, and others would willingly follow, since the system was designed, in theory, to be mutually beneficial for all participating countries. On the surface, it appeared as though the US would work to exercise and demonstrates its values in such a way that other nations could structure themselves based off of the model provided by the leader in democratic ideals.
Something has gone seriously amiss, however, since American global leadership is challenged. Anti-Americanism is not a universal phenomenon, and it is in fact milder and more nuanced than many might assume, but it is also very real, and poses a significant threat to the notion of the US as a benevolent hegemon.
Theoretical Orientation
The academic research focuses on the role of US foreign policy in generating anti-American sentiment. Nearly every region of the world has been profoundly impacted by the United States’ aggressiveand, often times, self-serving foreign policy. The United States has largely been viewed as the world’s lone hegemon since the end of World War II. This status not only comes with great power, but also immense responsibility. At a glance, the United States may appear to be a nation focused on providing a force for good in the world, but a deeper look into the United States’ actions in regards to its foreign policy proves that advancement and improvement of other nations is not always the underlying goal. Rather, the core of United States foreign policy has been to advance its own interests and power (Walt, 2005). In the years following World War II, through the Cold War, containment had been the primary goal of United States foreign policy. While part of containing the spread of communism was a result of the belief that democracy is the best possible form of government, the focus of containment arguably had more to do with limiting the Soviet Union’s power. Containing communism inhibited the Soviet Union, as well as support for the communist nation, from expanding. Although the United States is known for promoting democracy, the country has proven itself to be hypocritical. As Ryan (2004) states, “Washington decides what democracy is,” (p. 117). While the United States advocates for the spread of democracy, the nation has also been known to interfere in countries, such as Iran, Guatemala, and Venezuela, when democratic ideals begin to heavily benefit the newly democratic nations, but inhibit the United States’ self interests.
Despite the overwhelming agreement that U.S. foreign policy is the root cause of anti-American sentiments, some opinions suggest there is more to the story. Although there is a sense of anti-Americanism in most regions of the world, Katzenstein and Keohane (2007) believe that these anti-American views are too diversified to be explained by only one cause. Rather, the authors have come to the conclusion that there are two primary views in regards to anti-Americanism, the American left and the American right. The American left holds the belief that anti-Americanism is a reaction to US policy, while the American right views anti-Americanism as a bias against the United States and a general hatred for the freedoms Americans enjoy. This American right belief is one explanation that is sometimes used to explain the anti-American feelings possessed by repressed regions of the world, especially the Middle East. Although research supporting this claim is lacking, support for this claim has grown due to well known political figures using the idea that other people hate the U.S. for its freedoms as an explanation for anti-Americanism. Upon addressing the United States in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, President George W. Bush made the statement,
“Americans are asking, ‘Why do they hate us?’ They hate what they see right here in this chamber: a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.”
While this statement may have been used to rally the United States public against the “big, bad terrorists”, research does not back up this claim made by former President Bush. Sullivan (2007) explains that “Muslims do not hate America for what it is, but for what it does, how it does it, and to whom it does it.” President Bush was not alone in this thinking. Jerry Falwell, evangelical Southern Baptist pastor and well known televangelist, also looked to American values as a root cause for the September 11th attacks, though his views were not praising the American values he believed to be the catalyst of the terrorist attacks. According to a article by ABC News, Falwell called out groups such as pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU, and People for the American Way and made the statement “I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.’” While Falwell’s stance was quite different than President Bush, both Bush and Falwell mistakenly believe the 9/11 terrorist attacks were caused by American freedoms or values, neglecting to consider US foreign policy as even a factor in the attacks. This disconnect between academic sources and public discourses regarding anti-American continues to exist, despite the crushing research disproving the claims made by public figures that have shaped the ideas of anti-Americanism resulting from a hatred of American freedoms.
Almost every region in the world has been the victim of United States meddling at one time or another. One region, Latin America, has been said to have “been more frequently victimized by United States meddling than any other set of countries in the world,” (Baker and Cupery, 2013). The actions taken by the United States in the region have resulted in ongoing animosity and anger in Latin America. Ryan (2004) has defined three primary causes of the anti-American sentiments in Latin America including the unequal economic interactions with the United States, the reaction of the region to United States perceptions and characterizations of Central and Latin Americans, and the perception that the United States does not live up to the standards it advocates. As Sweig (2006) states, many Latin Americans believe the United States “supports democracy only when ‘our son of a (explicit)’ wins an election,” (p. 159). The overwhelming tenacity of United States power and the position of disparity that has resulted from United States’ actions in the region have created feelings of resentment. Ryan also explains that while anti-Americanism in Latin American countries is based on political and economic dependency, there is a widespread acceptance of United States culture. Ballve (2005) describes United States policy toward Latin America as alternating between “indifference and intimidation”. The United States has had no problem intervening in the region when U.S. interests were at stake, yet have often ignored Latin American countries during times in which aid was needed. As a result, new forms of anti-Americanism are taking form in Latin America. Rather than violence, the region is advocating for political resistance to U.S. influence and power (Ballve, 2005). In addition to the meddling that has occurred directly within Latin America, United States involvement and military action in Iraq has had a drastic impact on the opinions of the United States in Latin America (Ballve, 2005). Not only is U.S. foreign policy damaging relationships with regions they are directly involved in, but it is also having a negative impact on opinions of the audiences of the world watching meddling occur in other countries.
The Middle East is the region of the world that has appeared to be the largest target of United States meddling in most recent times. The Middle East has been both blessed and cursed with an unimaginably valuable resource: oil. Oil has, in many ways, been the root cause for much of the detrimental intervention that the region has endured at the hands of the United States. Anti-American sentiments in the Middle East can be linked to the United States and Western European political predominance in the Middle East pursuing oilfields, as well as the United States’ overwhelming support for Israel and their overall foreign policy regarding the Middle East (Sharma, 2013). While the United States’ past willingness to use military force to protect the flow of oil has resulted in resentment and animosity, there is more to the story than oil. Israel is another important puzzle piece for it represents a “gross injustice” for Arabs (Makdisi, 2002). Both the situation involving Israel and U.S. obsession with Middle Eastern oil have been used to shape foreign policy in the region. Overall, it is the United States’ foreign policy in the Middle East that has caused bitterness to arise. More specifically, the United States’ use of American military force in the region is one of the most evident elements of anti-Americanism (Breyfogle, 2004). According to Lynch (2007), the Arab public identifies the United States as “generally hostile, aggressive, and untrustworthy” as a result of U.S. foreign policy. The war in Iraq has largely helped to shape these feelings. In June of 2003, less than thirty percent of publics in Middle Eastern countries surveyed expressed favorable opinions of the United States, including only one percent of people surveyed in Jordan or the Palestinian Authority (Gsentzkow and Shapiro, 2004). Disapproval of the United States reached far deeper in several Middle Eastern countries. Just one year after the Iraq War began, 98 percent of Egypt and 94 percent of Saudi Arabia expressed unfavorable opinions of the United States (Sweig, 2006).
In addition to the anger that has formed as a result of United States use of military force, there is also a sense of resentment in the Middle East resulting from United States’ failure to use their power to advance life in the region. According to Makdisi (2002), there is a sense of disappointment felt by many in the Middle East due to the United States continuing to play a role in maintaining a repressive Middle Eastern status quo rather than using their power as a force for democratic change and liberation in the Arab world. Countries of the Middle East largely recognize United States’ power, and as a result of recognizing this power, many perceive United States’ failures to resolve issues as being an intentional disregard of serious problems within Middle Eastern countries (Lynch, 2007). United States’ power and influence is recognized and respected throughout the world, and the fact that the super power often neglects to use its power to advance other countries has resulted in disappointment and cynicism. Although the United States preaches of sparking democratic changes in the Middle East, “America rarely lives up to its idealistic rhetoric,” (Walt, 2005).
Anti-American sentiments are not limited to Latin America and the Middle East, regions in which the United States have physically intervened countless times. Asia, especially China, also display some feelings of anti-Americanism. According to Johnston and Stockman (2007), most negative views of the U.S. are related to the United States’ overall strategy of hegemony, especially regarding its actions with Taiwan. Much of the feelings in China in regards to U.S. foreign policy come down to the belief that the United States is a “unjust and overbearing dominant state in the system,” (Johnston and Stockman, 2007). Although ongoing disagreements over Taiwan is considered to be the most important issue with the U.S., China also lists containment and the double standards demonstrated by the U.S. to be two important factors of its negative feelings towards the United States (Johnston and Stockman, 2007). Once again, it is the United States’ foreign policy, which is described as “hegemonistic, aggressive, and arrogant” (Johnston and Stockman, 2007), that is damaging its relationships with countries throughout the world. South Korea has also displayed feelings of anti-Americanism throughout the years. During the 1980s, there were several burnings of U.S. cultural and information centers as a result of the U.S. policy of containment and the poor image it left of the U.S. among the younger South Korean generation (Sweig, 2006). In the 1990s, the country felt snubbed by the U.S. after being left out of the Agreed Framework in 1994 that took place in response to the 1993 North Korean nuclear crisis, and in 2002, two U.S. soldiers accidently ran over and killed two South Korean schoolgirls which sparked protests calling for U.S. troops to leave the country (Sweig, 2006).
The United States’ history with Europe extends back all the way to the beginning of the United States’ existence. Although European countries have long been considered to be allies of the U.S., especially Great Britain, there are still anti-American feelings that exist in this region of the world. Meunir (2007) focuses on the opinions of the U.S. held by countries such as France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain. Meunir finds that the opinions of the U.S. are fairly similar in most of these nations. Overall, feelings towards the U.S. in Europe are defined as “reasoned criticism” rather than anti-Americanism, according to Meunir. In France, many of the negative sentiments are a result of U.S. unilateral actions and overall distrust in the United States. The war in Iraq is often used as an example of U.S. unilateral behavior. France, Germany, and Russia led opposition to the war, and other European countries including Great Britain, Poland, and Spain experienced sharp declines in positive attitudes towards the United States by 2003 (Sweig, 2006). While Great Britain had been an important supporter of the U.S. post 9/11, approval rating for the United States dropped from seventy-five percent to forty-eight percent from 2002 to 2003 (Sweig, 2006). Just as attitudes of Latin American countries changed as a result of U.S. action in Iraq, the approval of the U.S. by European countries also took a severe beating. European nations are also very critical of the United States’ domestic affairs, described as “social anti-Americanism” by Meunir. This form of anti-Americanism is sparked by Europeans’ criticism of U.S.’s absence of universal health care, weak social protections, and the lack of good public education (Meunir, 2007). Although Europeans do possess some anti-American sentiments as a result of U.S. foreign policy, there is also criticism that arises from U.S. domestic affairs.
Another explanation sometimes used for anti-American feelings is the belief that other regions of the world disapprove of U.S. culture and values.Kohut and Stokes (2006) list the impact of U.S. culture as one cause of anti-Americanism and use a Gallup poll conducted in 1983 surveyed six countries (France, West Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Brazil and Mexico) to back up their claim. The poll found that four of the six countries complained of too much American influence in pop culture, and five of the six countries felt as though the U.S. had too much influence in their country’s business practices. Although this poll may display that resistance to U.S. culture did exist twenty-seven years ago, there is now overwhelming research that proves U.S. culture does not cause anti-American feelings. Makdisi (2002) states that expressions of anti-American feelings are far less related to a “blind hatred of the U.S. or American values than from a profound ambivalence about America.” Providing back up to this claim made by Makdisi is Breyfogle’s (2004) explanation that anti-Americanism is not a hatred of America itself, but of what America is understood to stand for in regards to its foreign policy. In addition, Lynch (2007) finds that U.S. policies are twice as important as American values in shaping the opinions of America in Middle Eastern nations. Generally speaking, there is vast acceptance, and even admiration, of U.S. culture, products, and technology throughout the world.