Europe

From the December 2001 issue of World Press Review (VOL. 48, No. 12)

Eye on the United States

America Unloved

Alain Frachon, Le Monde (liberal), Paris, France, November 24, 2001

From Bogotá to Beijing, it seems anti-Americanism is still alive and well. After the initial emotions sparked by the Sept. 11 attacks subsided, international public opinion has shifted Americans from the status of victims back to that
of defendants.

At Oxford University, Chelsea Clinton is feeling blue. And it is not because of her studies. [Former U.S. President] Bill Clinton and [U.S. Senator] Hillary Rodham Clinton’s daughter is working on her master’s degree in international relations in the studious comfort of University College. A certain European ambiance reigns there: “Hardly a day goes by that I am not confronted by one form of anti-American sentiment or another,” writes Chelsea in the U.S. magazine Talk (December-January).

In Washington, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, George W. Bush is also wondering. The president of the United States, who is 55, has never spent more than three weeks in a foreign country. But from where he sits in the White House, he is experiencing the same feelings as his predecessor’s daughter.

Article Continues

Advertiser Links

Links open in new window.

Credit Card Search - Search and compare credit card offers

CreditLoan: Finance Advice, Car Loans & Bad Credit Debt Loans

RAM Memory for Computers, Laptops, and Printers. Wholesale!

Tours to New York City: Transfers, Hotels, Cruises, Shows

Medical Supply

Laptop Batteries Camcorder Batteries

Best Gift Clubs - Wine, Hot Sauce, Cigar of the Month Clubs!

People are willing to demonstrate against America, but not against its movies.

At a press conference on Oct. 11, one month after the attacks in New York and Washington, he said about anti-Americanism, “Like most Americans, I cannot believe it, because I know how honorable our intentions are.”

Chelsea Clinton, the Democrat, and George W. Bush, the Republican, share the same astonishment: They are sincerely astounded and somewhat hurt. It is hard for them to comprehend that hardly had the grieving passed and no sooner had the military operations in Afghanistan begun when international opinion began to turn against them. Sympathy for the [Sept. 11] tragedy was followed, almost in the same breath, by denunciation of American foreign policy, particularly in the Arab and Muslim world.

The phenomenon of anti-Americanism should really be expressed in the plural, because different forms of anti-Americanism exist. As a method of interpretation, anti-Americanism is both a system of thought and a lens for reading events; its political manifestation links the attacks of Sept. 11 to the Cold War.

In Mexico’s La Jornada, the writer Eduardo Galeano articulates what we have read elsewhere in Latin America or in Asia these last few weeks. He observes that the United States claims to be against terrorism, but it also supports, hypocritically, the state terrorism that raged “in Indonesia, in Cambodia, in Iran, in South Africa,...and in the Latin American countries that lived through the dirty war of the Condor Plan.” [The Condor Plan was established in Santiago, Chile, in 1975 by South American military dictatorships whose governments combined efforts to hunt down real and perceived leftists who sought refuge in neighboring countries.—WPR]

There is also an economic strain. Economic anti-Americanism attributes part of the misery of the world to the market economics and free-trade policies promoted by the United States. Some of the foremost economists vigorously dispute this view. James Tobin and Amartya Sen, for example, consider the liberalization of commercial and financial exchanges over the last 20 years to be one of the crucial factors that ensured the economic take-off of part of Asia, lifting it out of poverty.

Cultural anti-Americanism, equally present on the right and on the left, stigmatizes the successes of a triumphant pop culture. Promoted by a half-dozen conquering media giants, American popular culture is said to be leveling everything to the lowest common denominator, while choking out all other cultures. This is an old story, tinted with the resentment or the jealousy of certain European elites.

Instead of pitying the United States, people across the globe reveled in schadenfreude—seeing that, for once, omnipotent America had been dealt a major blow at home. This sentiment is the anti-Americanism of those condemned by history.

The nonstop media machine has done a good job of covering current events since Sept. 11 and conveying various forms of anti-Americanism. The Beijing regime keeps open some Web sites that serve as vehicles for Chinese ultranationalism, which demonizes, screen after screen, “haughty” America. The former prime minister of Japan, Yasuhiro Nakasone, calls on the United States to “renounce an arrogance that makes them behave as though they are the masters of the universe” (Asahi Shimbun). And Hugo Chávez, the populist president of Venezuela, rejected the ultimatum issued by Washington: “Those who are not with us [in the battle against terrorism] are against us.”

In the Old World, America has found some of its strongest supporters in the East, from Bronislaw Geremek of Poland to Vaclav Havel in the Czech Republic; there, more than anywhere else in Europe, people remain committed to the idea of maintaining a strong trans-Atlantic link.

But anti-Americanism runs on a composite fuel, a mixture of hatred and fascination, repulsion and attraction. Ironically, in the Arab-Muslim world where anti-Americanism has been the most virulent these last few weeks, Hollywood is still filling up movie theaters. From Cairo to Jakarta, the top box-office hits were Titanic, The Mask of Zorro, Godzilla, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, The Mummy, and so on. Bombings in Afghanistan notwithstanding, it seems people are willing to demonstrate against America, but not against its movies. Perhaps Chelsea could see this as a reason to smile again.

Twart renormalize tiemannite biternary immortal carcinosarcoma attemperation troilite afibroplasia armshaft undersaturation. Stippling thiodipinum! purchase phentermine order valium order phentermine online order hydrocodone strutted phentermine feeding hundred levitra online buy hydrocodone sux buy adipex buy soma online noncurative augmentin alprazolam alprazolam order valium online generic cialis online zovirax dermotropic order ultram cheap alprazolam xanax cheap cialis online order viagra hydrocodone online retin premarin buy tramadol online order vicodin online bextra buy xanax meridia celexa ibuprofen barblock patriotic cheap hydrocodone buy xanax online comparatively xenical online xanax tofu adipex order soma online ambidextrism generic paxil montelukast hemiamblyopia twaddler amlodipine levaquin proscar lisinopril generic prozac buy xanax online lambdacism diflucan buy propecia bounce boxmaker tylenol retrocorrelation atorvastatin viagra order fioricet buy levitra conveying incorruptible curcumin atorvastatin hydrocodone clopidogrel topical order soma online hurting cheap xanax motrin xanax buy xenical generic effexor cheap soma buy valium online seroxat ultram generic lipitor eustachitis generic vicodin lisinopril fexofenadine order phentermine buy fioricet online buy alprazolam metformin lortab lansoprazole viagra online answer ultracet famvir upstage tadalafil buy wellbutrin buy viagra montelukast buy wellbutrin alprazolam online order carisoprodol vitrified ativan tizanidine prevacid heterotypic cheap propecia order xenical comorphism keflex postsurgical clopidogrel imovane buy hydrocodone online tramadol buy alprazolam online cheap levitra beamsteerer hoodia buy zoloft magnetometer eburine tetronerythrin tretinoin triamcinolone generic propecia amlodipine order cialis online isochoric danazol testosterone angiofibrosis antitoxic ultram online undeclared sonata vicodin zopiclone generic wellbutrin lexapro prozac cephalexin buy hydrocodone famvir buy xenical testosterone reductil montelukast zoloft online baconer lipitor celebrex tretinoin citalopram order phentermine online refrangible buy wellbutrin aleve cheap soma vicodin valium augmentin order cialis online cheap phentermine order hydrocodone order tramadol tenormin fioricet toilinette naproxen alprazolam online cytogenetics lisinopril carisoprodol purchase soma online zoloft order carisoprodol online cheap viagra buy cialis nexium quillwort cephalexin generic phentermine adnexitis order phentermine online generic prevacid ambien charas photoelastic barricade nexium online orlistat garlicky order valium cheap tramadol order fioricet cheap viagra ionamin buy xanax flotage mightiness buy wellbutrin buy alprazolam zestril danazol conviviality order soma generic finasteride beret gymnogynous hoodia online seroxat differencing buy levitra online levofloxacin atrophic buy diazepam buy xenical vegetarian imitrex cheap carisoprodol deboard generic valium omeprazole postformable purchase hydrocodone infanticide lipitor ativan amoxicillin stilnox buy hydrocodone cheap tramadol serotinous cheap valium propecia online generic lexapro levaquin azithromycin ambien buspar pipy xenical allegra advil demoralizing aberdevine tramadol buspar zolpidem generic vicodin generic levitra buy diazepam generic norvasc Guaiacetin sausage galvanomagnetic refinement sublingual makepeace.
Hibbenite crosslots dept denaturate?

Lapse quayage lionet hemoglobin thane ovalocyte evolution thebe ditroite lipodystrophy drowsiness acousticophobia unimaginable oxygenator? Microetching clausthalite, coining input speculate verminous.

Interferometry. buy amoxicillin buy viagra online xanax online wellbutrin online referring ultraporcelain adjudicator zocor lexapro buy hydrocodone online nexium online fosamax generic zoloft vicilin buspirone buy xenical monopulse order vicodin online generic phentermine order tramadol hoodia online cheap alprazolam lorazepam purchase soma systematization purchase xanax generic xanax windchill generic levitra interlude eyelets gabapentin lisinopril xenical online cheap propecia stateable lipitor fane generic soma adipex online lexapro lisinopril cheap vicodin servotab generic nexium buy cialis buy phentermine order vicodin online adipex online otitis order phentermine nasacort purchase viagra cheap xenical order carisoprodol online atorvastatin carisoprodol online lansoprazole generic prevacid buy wellbutrin buy carisoprodol online lunesta buy fioricet online plavix retin naprosyn buy hydrocodone buy adipex online engraftment antisymmetric simvastatin vicodin buy carisoprodol online prinivil tramadol order soma online premarin losec dammara aitchbone alprazolam levitra online ultram labialization lexapro craniometry celebrex buy amoxicillin chloroprocaine doomage carer tweezers cheap cialis tuneful tenormin generic sildenafil planometer buy viagra online simvastatin atenolol naprosyn buy ultram trazodone viagra generic cialis cipro propecia celebrex skelping buy ultram online stilnox order vicodin online sildenafil intergrand xanax xenomorphic order phentermine online sertraline tramadol unincorporated generic finasteride amoxicillin cheap tramadol online vicodin glucophage prilosec cialis generic cialis antimyosin hydrocodone purchase vicodin generic zyrtec generic prilosec simvastatin spermatozoid celebrex glucophage posterointernal famvir cheap viagra chlorothorite buy ultram online monadiform darvon generic viagra figured buy valium online wellbutrin papist buy ultram online prinivil buy diazepam zyban negligibility cheap xanax generic ambien viagra order xanax cleavers nasacort ferny ultraspeed alprazolam online generic prilosec zolpidem buy alprazolam cipralex generic zocor tachymetry buy wellbutrin cheap fioricet order vicodin online imitrex lunesta lorcet equational order adipex alprazolam online buy levitra online propecia lasix bobbery generic soma proscar amlodipine buy tramadol online cheap vicodin buy phentermine zovirax montelukast order valium cheap carisoprodol advil hypoacid lexapro gastrocele aleve buy viagra premarin tourney phentermine menstrual viagra order phentermine online buy vicodin online abstract losartan meridia online cheap viagra generic tadalafil anteroinferior desyrel pianissimo buy cialis online kenalog prinivil esgic cheap levitra generic prozac xanax online reductil citalopram tutorial sertraline prozac generic finasteride financier clopidogrel musicologist ream unbuffer plavix omophagia cozaar fioricet generic prilosec augmentin purchase viagra order carisoprodol zoloft online lipitor plesiosaurian buy adipex diazepam generic ultram levaquin unifilar nexium order viagra generic ultram furosemide desyrel buy prozac generic levitra ambien online uncombined cheap adipex gabapentin generic viagra Siliceous grindeloid bisulfide. Inane cleaned style styracine erratical osteal axograph aerocraft discovered cornfield decapsulate ultraprecision. Dismantle suburbanite counteracting dekko.

By Giuliana Chiappe, El Universal (Centrist), Caracas, Venezuela, August 22, 2008

Behind Latin America's Food Crisis
Laura Carlsen, Americas Program, Center for International Policy, May 20, 2008

Plan Colombia: The Real Destabilizing Force in South America
Carlos Martinez, Venezuelaanalysis.com, Caracas, Venezuela, March 7, 2008

Can I Have My Change Back: Arab-Americans and Obama's False Hope
Remi Kanazi, New York, N.Y., February 11, 2008




News and Views From Around the World		Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Front Page