Anti-Americanism flourishes

How many reasons can we hate thee? US President George W. Bush has been a lightning rod for negative stereotypes about Americans and America. Some have suggested anti-Americanism is simply a reaction to Bush and his Iraq policies; others contend that the 21st century is set to be the anti-American century.

According to popular opinion Bush is an inarticulate, insular, messianic born-again Christian cowboy whose success rides on the back of his family's wealth and connections. Undoubtedly Bush has provided enough TV-blooper evidence for a seven-year laugh at America's expense.

The truth about his abilities is more complicated, but few people seem interested in the other side of the story. Just as few people are open to being told that their stereotyping of Americans represents the last respectable prejudice.

For what it is worth, the other side of the story is that Bush is a very effective campaigner. It took considerable skill to beat Al Gore and John Kerry.

I have disagreed with many of his policies and think his Administration's execution of the Iraq war will go down as one of the greatest failures in US history. Nonetheless, I am more likely to blame Bush's belief system rather than his IQ. Claims that he is stupid have been overdone. He is clever enough to be president. It is his policies that are the issue.

As is well documented by surveys, the unfavourable assessment given to America by others around the world relates directly to US policies in Iraq rather than just a general dislike of America. The best source on these issues are the annual Pew surveys, which for the past few years have shown that most of those surveyed across a wide range of nations have an unfavourable view of America.

The evidence from the Pew surveys does not support the oft-expressed view that being hated is simply a consequence of being big and powerful and thus cannot be remedied by becoming gentler, but only by becoming weaker.

According to this evidence, gentler and generous actions do change opinions.

America's decision in 2005 to provide aid relief to Indonesia and Pakistan in the wake of the tsunami and earthquake disasters markedly lessened public antagonism in those countries. Further, despite Iraq, America is still the country people around the world believe can most effectively prevent genocides from occurring in other nations.

For the majority it is what America does that is the problem; however, for a vocal minority it is what America symbolises that they despise.

Contemporary contempt for America often recycles tropes developed by nervous European conservatives in the 19th century who viewed the US as uncouth, uncultured, cocksure and sanctimonious. Such views were held by those who feared the new wealth, social egalitarianism and democracy promulgated by America.

In contrast European progressives of the time largely looked to America as a model for a more just future.

However, by the early 20th century, Australia and New Zealand became the preferred New-World models with America being increasingly viewed with suspicion by the European Left. Over time progressives have come to sound more like Old-World conservatives as they regularly criticise Americans for being supposedly ill-informed and living on a diet of junk food and trash culture.

Just like with conservatives a century or so earlier these criticisms often tell us much more about the fears elites hold about their own nation's working class than anything insightful about American culture.

Into the future America will continue to be seen as the root of many cultural evils from retail therapy to rap music. Opponents of these things, however, would be best advised to avoid anti-Americanism and focus directly on the issue that concerns them - be it materialism or sexism.

On the political front, America is likely to elect a more experienced or at least a more articulate president in 2008 who is unlikely to govern promising more of the same. However, the range of current presidential candidates is extremely broad.

A President Rudy Giuliani could be capable of antagonising global opinion as much as Bush, while a President Barack Obama would be an antidote to Bush, who would force people to confront certain assumptions about Americans.

The Iraq debacle will chasten America but not as much as its loss in Vietnam did. America will continue to use force to attack what it thinks are terrorists.

Also, given the current frequency of civil wars and increasing media coverage of events in all corners of the globe, America is likely to be drawn into peacekeeping and peacemaking missions. Because the American military will continue to act beyond its borders, improving the quality of America's foreign policy decisions and the competency of its actions will be crucial to whether the US is seen more favourably in the future.

Thankfully, if the polls continue their trends, it is these decisions that will sway world opinion, not residual and knee-jerk prejudices carried over from the 19th century.

This being the case, the future of anti-Americanism around the globe is largely in the hands of the Americans themselves.