Anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism is the concept of hostility to the interest of the people to the government of America (Beyer and Ulf Liebe, 93). It is the aspect of opposing or becoming hostile to anything of or associated with the United States of America. Anti-Americanism refers to the opposition of the interests of the U.S.A in another nation or region. Anti-Americanism is conducted by those people who wish to show antipathy to what America is or does (Baker and Cupery, 108). At different times, people have acted in a way that portrays that they are anti-Americans. Indeed, being an anti-American means making adverse claims concerning America. For instance, the manner through which Osama bin Laden behaved proved that he was an anti-American (Gilmore et al., 701). In a statement that President Bush was utilizing the attacks with the aim of killing innocent people and take the possession of the Arab world to possess oil for his family, is anti-American (Beyer and Ulf Liebe, 96). The statement is an adverse claim of what President Bush from America was doing. Indeed, anti-Americanism is the concept meaning responding or talking against the practices or policies set by America.
Causes
The various causes of anti-Americanism concept include the situation through which America responds to different issues in other nations and the policies it applies. In French, only 25% support the U.S. policies (Bush and Jamal, 36). The percentage is even higher compared to that in Germany and Japan. The majorities in many nations argue that the presence of the American military leads to the increasing chances of war. Also, many countries believe that America's international impact is growing. There is an argument that America has tarnished the global image because of its struggle to support the allies.
In research done using 38,000 people from 44 nations in 2002, the findings of the Pew Research Center were that the U.S. worldly image had fallen (Bush and Jamal, 38). However, after the end of the war in Iraq, more interviews were performed using 16,000 people from 20 nations governed by the Palestinian Authority and it was identified that positive opinions of America had dropped (Baker and Cupery, 114). This meant that the majority of people from those countries were anti-American.
During the State Department survey, 22% of the Germans claimed to have a negative view of the U.S (Beyer and Ulf Liebe, 101). This led to the rise in the 2002 poll and other surveys conducted later. Also, in France, in 1999/2000 there was a survey concerning the U.S., and it was identified that only 62% had a favorable view (Bush and Jamal, 39). The percentage continues reducing because of the rise in anti-Americanism.
Anti-Americanism is practiced across the globe not only in the Muslim world and Western Europe. The concept is felt even in Brazil. In 2002, a survey in Brazil showed that around 52% of the citizens had positive views about the U.S. meaning that the other percentage was anti-American (Beyer and Ulf Liebe, 98). The number of citizens expressing a favorable opinion about America continues dropping like in the case of Brazil, whereby it is 34% while in Russia, there has been a decline of favorable claims about the U.S. from 61% to less than 36% (Beyer and Ulf Liebe, 102).
In the present world, loathing and fear about the U.S. have increased (Jamal et al., 60). Based on a Eurobarometer survey performed in the European Union nations, it was identified that many people negatively rate the U.S. by claiming that it is a threat to the peace of the world. Some people refer to the case of Iran. In the United Kingdom, some of America's highly trusted European ally, around 55 percent, identifies the U.S. as a threat towards international peace (Bush and Jamal, 42). In four nations, Sweden, Finland, Spain, and Greece, the United States of America is recognized as the significant threat to global peace, more threatening that North Korea or Iran. This makes the American image to be dismal in the Middle East for a while.
During a State Department survey, it was realized that only 23% of the Jordanians show their positive opinions concerning the U.S (Baker and Cupery, 109). The sentiments have currently spread to the predominantly Muslim nations, especially in the external part of the region. Only 15 percentages of the Indonesian Muslims expressed favorable views of the United States (Baker and Cupery, 110). The rate had fallen from 61% as per the survey in 2002 (Bush and Jamal, 43). Additionally, there are strong evidence viewpoints of the majority of the Muslims about America has been beyond the mere hatred.
According to the previous Pew survey, seven out of eight Predominantly Muslims countries are confident that the U.S. might at one time threaten their nation. The number included 58% in Lebanon and 71% in turkey (Beyer and Ulf Liebe, 102). Moreover, Muslims are more hostile to the United States similarly to the Americans. In the historical times, for instance, in 1983, a survey was conducted in Newsweek, and it revealed that individuals did not allow their distaste for American policies influence their opinions of the Americans (Jamal et al., 60). Besides, a significant number of the Muslim countries and majorly those nations like South Korea and Brazil claimed that they were saddened that the Iraqi army only put up minimal resistance in the battle against America.
American Power and Policies Leading to Anti-Americanism
People have different reasons for their opposition and hostility against America. Some claim that America, in general, is biased while others refer back to the leadership of President Bush (Gilmore et al., 701). The majority of nations that are anti-American identify the president to have been a major threat and not the government. Bush is recognized to be the sudden bar to the feeling of anti-Americanism, although the issue is higher than the president himself. The power and American policies fuel bitterness and antipathy for America in the entire world (Jamal et al., 71). The resentments were brought into the open by the administration which also strengthened misery with America.
The worldly policies identify that The United States of America does very little to get a solution to the global issues and supports policies that improve the yawning earthly gap among the poor and the rich. Also, the particular sentiments were proof even before the battle in Iraq. Also, the influential U.S. backing for Israel long precedes the Bush leadership (Baker and Cupery, 108). The Muslims believe that the U.S. supported Israel in the battle with Palestinians because of the aspect of faith and the Europeans thought the same. In Israel, the U.S. policy is identified as unfair, therefore the cause of the dissent (Gilmore et al., 701). Also, the American power, whereby it dominated the world makes people suspicious for its aim to threaten the world. Through the American influence, it was able to regulate Iraqi oil
Indeed, anti-Americanism has widely spread in the current world because of the American power and American policies. The administration of President Bush was claimed to lead to the rising resentment in other nations around the globe. Indeed, the majority of countries have negative opinions about America.
Work Cited
Baker, Andy, and David Cupery. "Anti-Americanism in Latin America: Economic exchange, foreign policy legacies, and mass attitudes toward the colossus of the North." Latin American Research Review (2013): 106-130.
Beyer, Heiko, and Ulf Liebe. "Anti-Americanism in Europe: Theoretical mechanisms and empirical evidence." European sociological review 30.1 (2013): 90-106.
Bush, Sarah Sunn, and Amaney A. Jamal. "Anti-Americanism, Authoritarian Politics, and Attitudes about Women's Representation: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Jordan." International Studies Quarterly 59.1 (2015): 34-45.
Gilmore, Jason A., Lindsey Meeks, and David Domke. "Why do (we think) they hate us: Anti-Americanism, patriotic messages, and attributions of blame." International Journal of Communication 7.21 (2013): 701.
Jamal, Amaney A., et al. "Anti-Americanism and anti-interventionism in Arabic Twitter discourses." Perspectives on Politics 13.1 (2015): 55-73.
