Is USA Hated or Loved Around The World?

The following report details how the United States is viewed around the world.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050928/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/battle_of_ideas

 

Is the United States hated or loved overseas?

Probably both, simultaneously.

I don't see immigration slowing down. There doesn't seem to any significant flow of emigrants out of the US.

Part of what's happening with the US is the result of the end of the Cold War. As long as the world felt threatened by evangelical communism, anti-Americanism was pretty much restricted to the militant left in places like Western Europe. Around the world, in the post-World War II environment, people felt that they needed us to guarantee their security.

But now that people don't really feel in danger any longer (terrorism is too amorphous to replace the Warsaw Pact as a visceral threat), they resent the world's only superpower, a nation that makes them feel kind of powerless in comparison. That's hard to take for countries with their own proud traditions. It's why some European nationalists (particularly in Paris) want to unify Europe as a new power center that will return world leadership to its rightful (Gallic) hands.

So they are particularly sensitive to any shows of American power, and to what they term "unilateralism", which translates into actions undertaken without their having a veto.

I don't know... is it better to be feared, loved or respected? Is the US the world's big soft teddy-bear? The world's get-rich-quick zone? Or is it something more significant than that?

In the nineteenth century neither the British or the French conducted their affairs on the basis of world public opinion polls. The Chinese never have. The Greeks and (especially) the Romans obviously didn't. If Europe ascends to renewed world leadership, they are unlikely to base their policy on American public opinion either.

There's something both pitiful and admirable, both at the same time, in America's peculiar and historically unprecedented concern with whether it is universally loved.

 

Want to unite, and will, eventually.

A true United States of Europe will be an economic rival to the United States, and a healthy thing it would be for humanity, too.

The U.S. is admired and envied. Envy expressed itself in various ways, sometimes as resentment, sometimes as emulation, often as both and other stuff besides.

But WE have something the Europeans DON'T have and aren't likely to develop any time soon; an essentially COMMON language, COMMON identity, COMMON history and culture, and set of COMMON political and civic values.

I make fun of Texans but I have a lot more in common with a Texan than does a Frenchman with, say, a Czech.

We have awful racial divisions, though I believe that this has lessened a lot in my lifetime and will continue to lessen, but the HUGE majority of Americans, even across the black/white divide, accept the same set of rules. When we scream at each other about injustice, we SHARE the same ideal of what justice MEANS.

Also, thank God, we have no Nobility.

I admit that, after the 2004 election, I, and a surprising number of my fellow Americans, looked seriously into emigration to Canada. It's a little different for me, maybe. My family has roots in Canada and I have Canadian relatives.

But it has since become fairly clear to me that the political pendulum is beginning to swing back in this country. And Canada, let it not be forgotten, is a MONARCHY.

Yuck.

 

Honestly, Mr. Nosborne, you’re truly a generous gentleman. Can you imagine our current schizophrenic De Gaulle/Napoleon in charge of Europe, running our destiny from The Elysees? Oh, please, Americans, don’t allow it. Save us again. As you said America is much more homogeneous than Europe, and this is a key aspect. The US of E won’t ever exist and it it does it will be such a weak state it won’t have any influence in the rest of the world. I mean, aren’t you aware of the problems, statements, counter statements, replies, counter replies and postponements they have to do to take a single stupid decision? They even want to include Turkey which will make the decision making process even more difficult. Nah, don’t worry about the US of E, an entelechy that only exists in the mind of some perverse French, and some lunatics in Brussels. Plus, aren’t traditional states slowly dissolving giving raise to market dominated societies with diffuse borders?

And regarding this topic, yeah, the US is decreasing its popularity but American citizens are still welcome. At least here in Europe, and I am sure in Asia too.

 

Hate vs. Love

My associates from overseas say they have lost a measure of respect for America and they seem very interested in our actions around the globe...sometimes moreso than US citizens, which is bizarre.

 

A weak overseer would make the EU more like the US at its best. Sadly, we in the US are increasingly looking to some Imperator to "lead" us. To wit, the recent calls for Bush to "do something" about the destruction of hurricane Katrina.

 

I think it is more jealousy than hatred towards the US. Also, the fact that our ladies shave their legs and armpits, and both sexes frequently bathe over here probably has something to do with it.

 

Decimon, what I would like, for pragmatical, ideological and sentimental reasons, is an absolutely free trade area (free movement of both people, goods and services ) between the US & Canada and the EU. It basically exists already to a certain extent, but it should be deepened to face an uncertain future. But it won´t happen. The reasons? What Bill said. France (and others) wants to build a Europe *against* the US in what they consider to be a multipolar world. But at the other side of the pond, certain powerful circles don´t help much either. Perhaps the Chinese shadow makes all understand better the current circumstances.

I don´t know if Europeans also require of an Imperator. Perhaps. What I know for sure is that this is a Babel Tower where everyone speaks his own language, that language of his own interests.

 

That is like trying to make your life as being opposite a sibling rather than as being your best self.

 

Well, I am not sure really. Europeans lack homogeneity, and EU leaders interpret it to be a disadvantage. A common goal or a founding principle is often a cohesive force. In fact, EU and US interests often intersect, and agreements are not always possible. Competition in the world will increase with the inclusion of new actors like China and others, and accords in all sort of matters will become gradually more difficult. I guess they just intend to increase the EU´s role in the world. But the US is a European power since April 1917, and nothing takes place here without the US knowing and approving. Perhaps Chirac and the like are trying to stop that relationship for good.

Regards

 

I've agreed with the contention that the establishment of Bolshevism in Russia and Nazism in Germany were the unintended consequences of the U.S. joining WWI. I doubt you mean to say those were intended consequences.

A relatively minor consequence, for the U.S., was agreeing to put troops into Russia between 1918 and 1920. Exercise in futility.

 

As part of my work I do travel a lot and political conversations pop up here and there. I am in sales so conversation with clients is a huge part of my work. To say the United States is hated is just an exageration. In fact most of the people love the USA. They realize that the American Dream is what they want for themselves and their respective countries.

Sadly, I can not say the same for our president. He is probably the most disliked political figure in the world. This is even more unfortunate because he follows Bill Clinton, who probably was the most beloved US president with the international community.

By the way, I sell insurance to extremelly rich individuals in Latin America, so these people are not exactly on the left wing side of the political, social, or economic spectrum.

I believe that most people in the world keep America and her President separate when it comes to forming an opinion.

 

No, Decimon, I meant something completely different. Europe has been since then subjected to the American tutelage. Whether directly or indirectly, it has intervened in all major decisions that affected the Union. In fact, Europe wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the umbrella of protection America provided through the years. It was only recently that America suggested Europe it should start taking care of itself. However, Americans were shocked when they learnt that (old) Europeans were enthusiastic about the idea. America wants a free trade area without political ambitions. France and others want to have a say in world affairs, and the EU provides with a great pulpit to do so. Let´s see who wins. Today the US scored a goal by getting the EU-25 begin negotiations with Turkey, a dead weight to the EU´s neck.

Regards

 

I think Europeans began to accept an American influence because we were them once removed, and because Europe, on its own, has barely known peace through known history. Post WWII, there was the Big Bad Bear to fear.

Western Europeans have seemed ambivalent about American withdrawal. I think there lurks the fear of the return of internecine conflict. And the removal of U.S. military bases causes some economic problems for some Europeans.

Free trade. American free trade agreements now come with encyclopedic rules and regulations.

To me, this is your most interesting comment. You see this as competition between the U.S. and Europe and I don't see the same mentality here. Some people here may become incensed at the political disagreements/fights we have with Europeans but that doesn't last. My sense is that neither Americans nor the U.S. government operate from a position of being in competition with Europe. To some extent in economic competition but more in partnership.

 

Decimon,

I am merely trying to describe the general feeling over here. There is no need to become defensive at all. I am not endorsing one position or another. In fact, I agree with most of your comments. I don´t see Americans as enemies in any possible way. I was educated there, and have sentimental ties with the US. I am just trying to explain the reason behind that apparent hostility. Or what I think at least.

 

I wasn't being defensive. I was also looking at differing perspectives.

I don't about Europeans, per se, but European politicians often strike a competitive tone when speaking of the U.S. I don't perceive that same mentality here.

 

OK, Decimon, it is not always easy to distinguish the mood one writes over the internet. I wasn’t sure if you understood the tone of my messages so I wanted to avoid misunderstandings.

My point is that some EU countries have conflicting political and economical interest with the US, and are planning to use the EU as a platform to counterweight the US. Whether those attempts are realistic or a bunch of bologna I leave to the analysts. But differences, due to increasing international, fierce competition, are becoming insurmountable. There are plenty of examples in recent times that confirm this idea. The war of Iraq is the most obvious one, but also the sale of weapons to China. How do we perceive here the US reaction to this? Perhaps, as you say, the tone is soft, but its actions reveal strong disappointment. On top of that the US is adding as much as it can to destroy all political unity in the EU (e.g. US insistence on admitting Turkey to the EU). That’s the general atmosphere you can find nowadays in certain European press (with the exception of the British press, the real US horse of Troy, whose news have identical language to that of the Foreign Affairs Office).

 

Having traveled around the world a few times, I have usually found as others have stated, that they do not hate America or Americans, but they do hate President Bush.

William

 

I have yet to meet anyone here who considers Europe or citizens of any of its countries to be "enemies" either. U.S. citizens also have sentimental ties with Europeans. Most in the U.S. have European ancestry, and many still identify with those connections even if their familes left Europe generations ago.

Kit