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Chapter 5. Explanations for Anti-American Opinions
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chapter 5 Explanations for Anti-American Opinions Almost as soon as Europeans began colonizing the vast area that ultimately became the United States, some foreign visitors who came to these shores shared their observations and evaluations of the American peoples, customs , values, and institutions. Unlike those who emigrated with a view to settling permanently and starting a new and better life here, notable observers such as Alexis de Tocqueville, Charles Dickens, and many others were temporary visitors who were driven by motives ranging from genuine curiosity to a determination to ridicule if not condemn most if not all aspects of life in the “new world.”These writings have spawned an even more voluminous literature by Americans depicting how and why foreigners have understood—or misunderstood —the United States. The September 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent responses by the United States have given rise to a ›ood of speeches, editorials , op-ed articles, and books that analyze the nature and sources of foreign views of the United States.1 The evidence reviewed in chapters 2 and 3 indicates that recent years have witnessed widespread erosion of America’s image among publics abroad, albeit the changes are far from uniform. Publics in some countries continue to view the United States in a very favorable light, and some aspects of American soci172 1. Book-length studies include Stephen Brooks, As Others See Us: The Causes and Consequences of Foreign Perceptions of America (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2006); Andrew Kohut and Bruce Stokes, America against the World: How We Are Different and Why We Are Disliked (New York: Times Books, 2006); and Peter Katzenstein and Robert O. Keohane, eds., Anti-Americanisms in World Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006). The Brooks and Kohut and Stokes books rely heavily on some data from the excellent Pew Global Attitudes Project, of which Kohut is the director. ety—notably, science and technology—evoke almost universal admiration even in countries that are highly critical in most other respects. What can account for the often-dramatic changes in the ways in which this country is appraised abroad? What explanations have been offered for the growth of anti-American sentiments? The September 11 terrorist attacks have generated a widespread debate to which vast numbers of politicians and pundits , foreign policy analysts, and area experts have contributed their thoughts. This chapter describes seven of the more popular and quite varied theories about foreign disenchantment with this country—the end of the Cold War, globalization,America’s virtues and values, irrationality, strategic scapegoating, ignorance, and U.S. policies—along with brief sketches of the foreign policy implications of each. the end of the cold war One plausible explanation for declining support of the United States is the end of the Cold War. In the face of the Soviet threat, cohesion within alliances led by the United States—notably NATO—was widely perceived as a necessary if not suf‹cient condition for an effective policy of containment. In the eyes of some, the disintegration of the USSR at the end of 1991 reduced the imperatives of alliance cohesion as a top national interest and, with it, the indispensable leadership role of the United States. Indeed, a number of “realist” intellectuals forecast that the end of the Cold War would result in the demise of NATO. In the words of Kenneth Waltz, “NATO’s days are not numbered, but its years are.”2 Although the number of “years” was not speci‹ed, at this point that appears to have been a less than prescient prediction. But even with the survival of NATO, the demise of the Soviet Union allowed national interests other than containment of Moscow, at times divergent ones, to come to the forefront. Thus, it might be reasonable to assume that in the absence of Cold War threats, publics and leaders in Western Europe and elsewhere might feel less dependent on the United States, less reluctant to criticize Washington, and freer to pursue a more independent course in world affairs . Examples of issues that might have received less attention when EastWest relations and fears of a possible nuclear war dominated world politics include efforts to deal with such environmental issues as global warming (the Kyoto Protocol); coping with such“failed states”as Yugoslavia, Rwanda, SomaExplanations for Anti-American Opinions / 173 2. Kenneth Waltz,“The Emerging Structure of International Politics,” International Security 18 (fall 1993): 76. [3.91.176.3] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 13:22 GMT) lia, and Sudan; agricultural subsidies...